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Mark Bergen
For Mark Bergen's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. One of SoftBank's primary objectives will be to harvest returns from its huge portfolio rather than priming unprofitable startups for growth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2024
SoftBank’s Vision Fund swaps splashy bets for ‘timid’ investing
As other tech investors have heaped money into new artificial intelligence firms, Vision Fund has stayed out of the fray.
The New York Times headquarters in New York. The New York Times has sued Microsoft and OpenAI for using its content to help develop artificial intelligence services, in a sign of the increasingly fraught relationship between the media and a technology that could upend the news industry.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2023
NYT sues Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement
While OpenAI has been sued by prominent authors, the suit is the first challenge to its practices by a major media organization.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2022
Big Tech helps Big Oil pump more, belying climate pledges
The tech giants began courting oil companies several years ago, eager for business from a lucrative but technologically backward industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2022
Corporations join the nuclear fusion craze
TAE Technologies' CEO says more corporate partnerships are coming after his company demonstrated a key breakthrough in constructing viable reactors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 12, 2022
Google is remaking search and maps for the TikTok generation
The new features include ways for people to search for nearby items using images and identify physical objects with their smartphone cameras.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2021
Facebook changes name to Meta in embrace of virtual reality
The name change is the most definitive signal so far of the company's intention to stake its future on a new computing platform — the 'metaverse.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 29, 2021
Tech giants’ record quarter gives way to growth skepticism
Three of the world’s largest companies — Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. — reported about $57 billion in combined profit in a record-busting quarter, riding a resurgence in consumer and business spending.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 21, 2020
Kids see many ads but few educational videos on YouTube, study shows
A report found that adverts were present on 95% of videos analyzed, with a fifth of the ads being categorized as age inappropriate.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2020
Big Tech draws record revenue and harsh criticism with U.S. election ads
The presidential campaigns for each party more than doubled their ad spending on Facebook compared with the presidential candidates in the 2016 race.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2020
If Google shares less data, rivals shout antitrust; if it opens up, privacy advocates cry foul
Google LLC is limiting access to key tools that track ad spending, disrupting hundreds of marketers and underscoring the powerful role the search giant plays in the digital advertising industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 13, 2018
Inside Huawei's secret research HQ, China is shaping a future that's less reliant on U.S. tech
The surprise arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., has thrust the company into a political firestorm and deepened a core threat: that more and more countries will blacklist its switches, routers and phones out of growing concern that they could be hijacked by foreign spies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Jul 19, 2018
Google shrugs off EU fine; damage to hinge on rivals' next moves
The European Union's record $5 billion fine against Google, levied Wednesday morning, marks the biggest regulatory attack yet on technology giants. But investors and analysts largely shrugged off the ruling's potential to immediately dent Google's business.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on