While in Los Angeles, she performed as part of a gospel choir at a Mary J. Blige concert and appeared as a backup dancer in Janet Jackson's music video, "Go Deep".

Her Gold certified ninth studio album Independent (2012) served as her international debut and first release under EMI Music Japan.

Ai's eleventh studio album, Wa to Yo (2017) experimented with traditional Japanese and electronic sounds.

Ai's twelfth studio album, Dream (2022), included the single "Aldebaran", the theme song of the Japanese drama, Come Come Everybody.

[2] Her family had intentions of returning to Los Angeles within a year however decided to stay in Japan as her father took over business operations of the construction company.

[2] During her early childhood, Ai struggled to communicate with her family and peers at school, often blending English and Japanese phrases.

[4] After a successful audition process, Ai enrolled at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, majoring in ballet.

[7][5] In 1999, Ai joined an Asian girl group called SX4, who were produced by George Brown of Kool & the Gang.

[4] While on a summer holiday in Kagoshima, Ai performed Monica's "For You I Will" on a local radio station, which led to her being scouted by BMG.

Other musicians Ai collaborated with in this period were Afra, Boy-Ken, Joe Budden, Dabo, Deli, Double, Heartsdales, Ken Hirai, M-Flo, Sphere of Influence and Zeebra.

[10][11][12] Ai later performed "Story" at the prestigious 56th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen New Years music concert.

The performance was a benefit concert for the Go For Broke National Education Center, an organization that commemorates Japanese Americans who served in the United States Army during World War II.

[19] Alongside Anna Tsuchiya and Micro, Ai also directed the drama film, Blue Pacific Stories.

[20] Later that year, Ai performed "Okuribito" and "Story" at the 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards which was held in Gold Coast, Australia.

A previously unreleased English version of Ai's single "Story" was featured in the Japanese dub of the Disney film Big Hero 6 in October 2014.

In January 2015, Ai recorded the song "Off Love" for Spicy Chocolate and Sly and Robbie's Grammy-nominated album, The Reggae Power.

[42] In early 2019, Ai traveled to her hometown, Los Angeles, California, to record new material to celebrate twenty years in the music industry and for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

In December 2020, Ai partnered with One Young World and released a special music video of the song in support of the project.

[43] In March 2021, EMI released a compilation EP of songs by Ai titled Self Selection "Hip Hop".

In June 2021, Ai's previous releases with Def Jam Japan, Universal Sigma and Island Records were made available internationally for digital streaming.

[52] On the same day, she performed the song with Yellow Bucks and DJ Ryow on CDTV, a Japanese TV channel by TBS.

[57][58] Ai performed "Aldebaran" at the 72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, 2021, her fourth appearance on the show.

[63] Ai performed and gave a speech to the spouses of world leaders, including First Lady Jill Biden and Akshata Murty.

[64] Within that same month, a global tour additionally was announced by her management company where Ai will raise donations for UNICEF Japan.

[17] While her early works were primarily marketed as R&B, her ninth and tenth studio albums, Independent and Moriagaro experimented with dance-pop.

For the American musical comedy Glee's season two episode "Britney/Brittany", Ai dubbed the voice of Britney Spears in the Japanese release.

Ai also worked on the theme song for the 2010 primetime drama Keishichō Keizoku Sōsahan, "Nemurenai Machi".

[84] With Japanese producer Yaffle, Ai contributed to the track "Rise Together" for the film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024).

[85] Given Ai’s English skills and American background, she stands a better chance than most Japanese artists of breaking overseas."

[88] On March 6, 2013, Ai announced her engagement to Hiroshi Noguchi, better known by his stage name Hiro, the leader and vocalist of the rock band Kaikigesshoku.