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July 21, 2025
 

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AI

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the opening ceremony of the third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on July 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 21, 2025
Jensen Huang, AI visionary in a leather jacket
Big tech's appetite for Nvidia's graphics cards has catapulted the California chipmaker beyond $4 trillion in market valuation, the first company ever to surpass that mark.
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2025
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
AI chatbots are becoming stand-ins for pets and partners — offering comfort, connection and raising new concerns.
Mizuho expects AI technology will help the company increase revenue and cut costs, resulting in positive effects totaling ¥300 billion by fiscal 2030.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 18, 2025
Mizuho partners with SoftBank on AI to boost efficiency
Mizuho will be the first in the financial sector to introduce artificial intelligence that is being developed jointly by SoftBank and OpenAI.
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 16, 2025
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
As the search for tech talent intensifies, companies are deciding to invest more in regions that offer “more abundant and affordable tech talent.”
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son (left) with OpenAI chief Sam Altman via video link
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2025
Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman see no end to AI demand and scaling
The two business partners argued that advancing AI would lead to new jobs that are not yet imagined, and the advancement of robotics will help kickstart a "self-improvement” loop.
Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, speaks during a news conference in Taipei on May 21.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 15, 2025
Nvidia to resume H20 AI chip sales to China in U.S. reversal
U.S. government officials told Nvidia they would green-light export licenses for the H20 artificial intelligence accelerator, the company said in a blog post.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been frustrated by the quality of his company's past AI efforts, so has been investing heavily in the energy, computing power and talent needed to compete in the fast-moving AI race.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 15, 2025
Meta to spend billions building gigawatt-size data centers for AI
Frustrated by the quality of Meta’s past AI efforts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been investing heavily in energy, computing power and talent to compete in the fast-moving AI race.
AI-created images of Holocaust-related subjects displayed on a laptop and a smartphone screens
WORLD / Society
Jul 15, 2025
Holocaust AI fakes spark alarm
Critics say that AI-generated images, text and videos are offensive and contribute to Holocaust distortion by conjuring up a "fantasy-land Auschwitz."
Effective immediately, individuals and companies must notify Kuala Lumpur at least 30 days prior to exporting or shipping high-performance U.S. artificial intelligence chips.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2025
Malaysia controls AI chip exports as U.S. targets China smuggling
Kuala Lumpur has come under increasing pressure from Washington to halt the suspected flow of AI chips to China via intermediaries in Malaysia.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2025
Nvidia CEO says China’s military unlikely to use U.S. AI chips
Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said the Chinese military will avoid using U.S. technology because of the risks associated with doing so.
Women represent 26% of the AI workforce, according to a UNESCO report, and men hold 80% of tenured faculty positions at university AI departments globally.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 12, 2025
Tech's diversity crisis is baking bias into AI systems
Built-in viewpoints and bias, unintentionally imbued by its creators, can make the fast-growing digital tool risky to use.
The growing prevalence of AI-generated child abuse material has alarmed law enforcement worldwide.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2025
AI-generated child abuse webpages surge 400%, alarming watchdog
Some content is so realistic it has to be treated under U.K. law as if it were actual footage, the Internet Watch Foundation has said.
Grok, a chatbot made by xAI, on Tuesday made antisemitic comments on billionaire owner Elon Musk's social media platform, X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2025
Europe’s clash with Musk’s xAI escalates after Grok’s rants
The chatbot on Tuesday made antisemitic comments on social media platform X.
A screen displays news on Nvidia achieving a $4 trillion market capitalization on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2025
AI giant Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4 trillion milestone
The achievement marks new milestone in Wall Street's bet that artificial intelligence will transform the economy.
Meta hired Ruoming Pang, who ran Apple’s AI models team, with a pay package in the hundreds of millions over a several-year period, according to sources.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2025
Meta poached Apple’s Pang with pay package of over $200 million
Apple didn’t try to match Meta's offer to engineer Ruoming Pang as it far exceeded pay at the company for leaders other than CEO Tim Cook.
A Phoenix quantum computer made by Atom Computing, in Berkeley, California. Japan is advancing in quantum research but lags in commercialization. To compete globally, it must shift from a research-focused approach to one driven by industry, investment and real-world applications.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 9, 2025
Japan needs to take the quantum-technology leap
Policymakers must focus on specific sectors, test new ideas through public-private partnerships and present practical examples.
Vast improvements in AI-generated video is shaking the foundations of the creative industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025
AI video becomes more convincing, rattling creative industry
To measure the progress of AI video, you need only look at Will Smith eating spaghetti.
BRICS leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (front row left), Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (second left), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center), Chinese Premier Li Qiang (second right) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov join hands during a group photo at the bloc's summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2025
BRICS fills soft-power vacuum as Trump-led U.S. retreats
The 10-nation BRICS grouping of major emerging economies has stepped up its efforts on issues such as AI, health care and climate change.
Samsung, South Korea’s largest company, reported preliminary operating profit of 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in the June quarter, a roughly 56% drop from a year ago.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025
Samsung profit halves amid delays to certification for advanced AI chips
The company has yet to secure certification from Nvidia for its most advanced product, creating an unusually long lead time for rivals in the highly lucrative space.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been recruiting top artificial intelligence engineers for the company’s new superintelligence division.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025
Apple loses top AI models executive to Meta’s hiring spree
The departure of Ruoming Pang marks another setback in the iPhone maker’s struggling efforts in the emerging space.
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
Sunken WWII Japanese warship Teruzuki found off Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands. A team from the U.S. nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust has discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki on the deep seabed off the Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Voters in Tokyo reflect shifting political views across Japan
Pedestrians walk in front of an election notice board displaying posters of candidates in Tokyo on Sunday.
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood
The self as a muse: Leonard Foujita's world in paintings and photos
One of Leonard Foujita’s biggest muses was himself. He painted self-portraits, often with a cat on his side, looking back at the viewer. He posed for photographers throughout his life, the displayed photos showing he retained his signature bowl cut and round glasses.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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