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Fanny Potkin
For Fanny Potkin's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) new plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 18, 2024
TSMC eyes advanced chip packaging capacity in Japan, sources say
Bringing its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate packaging technology — currently all in Taiwan — to Japan is one of the options the chipmaker is considering.
People walk past a billboard promoting Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's defense minister and a presidential candidate, and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and current Surakarta's mayor, in Jakarta on Jan. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 8, 2024
Generative AI faces major test as Indonesia holds election
Front-runner Prabowo Subianto is using AI tools to create campaign art, track social media sentiment, build interactive chatbots and target voters.
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.'s Japanese office in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023
Taiwan's Powerchip considering five sites in Japan for factory
Powerchip announced in July that it was setting up a joint venture with financial firm SBI Holdings with the aim of securing government subsidies.
ASEAN 2023 summit attendees (left to right): Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 11, 2023
Southeast Asia eyes hands-off AI rules, defying EU ambitions
A draft of ASEAN 'AI guide' is being circulated to tech firms for feedback and is expected to be finalized at the end of next January.
A TSMC plant under construction in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023
TSMC prizes Japan's chips skills after U.S. stumbles
The chipmaker is taking an increasingly optimistic view of Japan as a production base, as problems persist at its new factory in Arizona.
People visit Semicon China, a trade fair for semiconductor technology, in Shanghai in 2021
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2023
China quietly hires overseas chip talent as U.S. tightens curbs
The revamped recruitment drive is said to offer perks including home-purchase subsidies and typical signing bonuses of $420,000 to $700,000.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 18, 2023
EU's AI lobbying blitz gets lukewarm response in Asia, officials say
Many countries favor a 'wait and see' approach or are leaning toward a more flexible regulatory regime.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 13, 2022
From blocked to blue ticks: How Twitter learned to love China revenue
Ad purchases on the platform by state-affiliated entities has come as Chinese police arrested more of those finding ways to use the service to criticize authorities.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 11, 2022
Myanmar's junta rolls out more Chinese surveillance cameras
Since the February 2021 coup, local authorities have started new camera surveillance projects for at least five cities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 22, 2022
Ant and Alibaba plan for less intertwined future after China crackdown
The two are trying to recover from a sweeping technology sector clampdown that has sliced hundreds of billions of dollars off their value and shrunk revenue.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2021
'Information combat': Inside the fight for Myanmar's soul
As Myanmar's military seeks to put down protest on the streets, a parallel battle is playing out on social media, with the junta using fake accounts to denounce opponents.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 5, 2021
After pressuring telecom firms, Myanmar's junta bans executives from leaving
The directives follow pressure on the companies from the junta to activate spyware technology.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2021
How Myanmar's military moved in on the telecoms sector to spy on citizens
Intercept spyware gives the military the power to listen in on calls, view text messages and web traffic, and track the locations of users without the assistance of telecom firms.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2020
Alibaba suffers culture conflicts
At Lazada, the Southeast Asian arm of Alibaba Group Holding, staffers are furious over demands that they submit health reports daily and other coronavirus-prevention steps seen as too invasive, highlighting a long-running culture clash with management from China.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores