Tag - ai

 
 

AI

A Yomiuri Shimbun staff prepares to distribute a special edition of the newspaper on the tariff deal between the United States and Japan, in Tokyo on July 23.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2025
Major Japan newspaper sues 'free-riding' AI firm Perplexity
The Yomiuri Shimbun is seeking damages of $14.7 million from the U.S.-based AI firm for using its articles "without permission."
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2025
SoftBank swings to profit after Masayoshi Son’s AI bets pay off
SoftBank Group swung to a quarterly profit, riding on gains from its bets on Nvidia and startups in a boon for founder Masayoshi Son’s bets on artificial intelligence technologies.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends a talk session with SoftBank group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son in Tokyo on February 3.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 6, 2025
OpenAI releases two ‘open’ AI models after DeepSeek’s success
The release is a new business strategy for the ChatGPT developer and allows users to customize and run AI systems themselves.
Reflecting CEO Masayoshi Son's artificial intelligence-focused strategy, SoftBank Group has boosted its stakes in Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025
SoftBank builds Nvidia and TSMC stakes under Son’s focus on AI gear
SoftBank Group raised its stake in Nvidia to about $3 billion by the end of March and bought around $330 million worth of TSMC shares.
China is not merely moving more goods; it is exporting a new, ruthlessly efficient production model powered by automation, AI and state-guided industrial optimization.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025
China’s unbeatable new production model export
The more pressing concern, however, is not what China exports, but how. Global cost structures are indeed being reshaped.
A person visits the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 4, 2025
AI search pushing an already weakened media ecosystem to the brink
A recent study has revealed that AI-generated summaries now appearing in Google searches discourage users from clicking through to source articles.
Microsoft is among a group of tech giants that are pouring money into artificial intelligence in order to get ahead of the competition.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2025
The AI race has Big Tech spending $344 billion this year
Microsoft, Amazon.com, Meta and Alphabet are pouring money into artificial intelligence in order to get a leg up on the competition.
U.S. President Donald Trump celebrates after signing executive orders on artificial intelligence at the “Winning the AI Race” Summit in Washington on July 23.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 1, 2025
Will Trump’s tech policies propel U.S. success against China?
As China mobilizes all its resources for an all-out contest for technological supremacy, the U.S. cannot afford economic inefficiencies and to push its closest partners away.
A synchronous speaker stands in a dubbing studio in Munich. The rise of AI raises the question of whether voice dubbing actors will be needed in the future.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 1, 2025
Voice actors push back as AI threatens dubbing industry
As AI-generated voices become more sophisticated and cost-effective, voice actor industry associations are calling for tighter regulations.
AI developer Alt, which recently disclosed accounting irregularities, has filed for bankruptcy protection under the civil rehabilitation law at the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2025
Japanese AI developer Alt goes bust after accounting fraud
Suspicions of accounting fraud surfaced at the company in April this year.
Apple executives John Giannandrea (left) and Craig Federighi. Shares of the company declined as much as 1.5% to $210.82, reaching a session low in New York trading.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 30, 2025
Apple loses fourth AI researcher in a month to Meta’s Superintelligence team
Meta previously lured away the leader of the Apple foundation models group, Ruoming Pang, with a compensation package valued at more than $200 million.
A Magic Bot Z1 by Magiclab is displayed at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference at the Shanghai World Expo and Convention Center on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2025
China’s AI strategy relies on frenzy and frenemies
China’s current AI frenzy represents the best and worst of classic capitalism: The competition propels innovation at a rapid clip, but not all of the companies will survive.
The Foreign Ministry will implement a large-scale organizational reform on Friday, including the establishment of an economic security division under the Economic Affairs Bureau.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025
Japan's Foreign Ministry to set up economic security division
It will be the first time in 19 years for the ministry to carry out a large-scale organizational reform involving multiple bureaus.
Personal Information Protection Commission Chairman Satoru Tezuka in Tokyo on July 15
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 26, 2025
Privacy safeguards needed to help fuel AI growth in Japan, panel chair says
A law revision was postponed during this year's ordinary parliamentary session amid strong opposition from business circles toward a system involving fines.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 26, 2025
Chinese Premier Li Qiang takes aim at AI ‘monopoly’ as U.S. effort quickens
China will spearhead the creation of an international organization to jointly develop AI, the country’s No. 2 official said.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (center) responds to questions during the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China, on July 17. Nvidia is one of the companies at the heart of the global artificial intelligence movement.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 25, 2025
DeepSeek and Trump’s plan steer agenda at China’s premier AI forum
This year's edition of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference takes place at a critical juncture in the U.S.-Chinese tech rivalry.
An image of the simulation technology developed by Fujitsu
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 24, 2025
Fujitsu and Nagoya University develop AI-based tech to spread ride-hailing
The new technology will be offered to local governments struggling to secure means of transportation for elderly residents and business operators facing a shortage of drivers.
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025
Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition
Japan is among the countries aiming to develop localized artificial intelligence models to target national priorities.
An Amazon Web Services data center in Ashburn, Virginia
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025
AI should run on 100% renewable energy by 2030, U.N. chief says
A typical AI data center consumes as much power as 100,000 homes, according to the U.N., and the largest centers now being built will use 20 times that.
In an era of fierce technological and geopolitical competition, especially in AI, true scale combining size, efficiency and cooperation with allies has become an urgent strategic necessity the U.S. and the West must master to counter China’s growing advantages.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2025
The AI arms race with China demands scale. The West must think bigger.
The race to create scale is critical amid the sizzling geopolitical competition over leadership in new technologies.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person