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May 25, 2025
 

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AI

A demonstration is held in Malawi as part of government efforts to pilot test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes, with assistance from UNICEF. As this and other technologies become more accessible, we must ensure their use advances sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025
How efficiency can transform sustainable development
In our haste to improve efficiency, we can't ignore the interests of humanity. Democratizing access to AI and other technologies is a fundamental step in this direction.
Jony Ive, left, is collaborating with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as part of a nearly $6.5 billion deal.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2025
OpenAI to buy AI startup from Apple veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 billion deal
The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices.
SoftBank Group’s investments in AI will be financed through a loan in which Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and JPMorgan Chase serve as lead underwriters, highlighting the Japanese tech investor's ability to secure funding for its outsize ambitions.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025
SoftBank taps Mizuho, SMBC and JPMorgan to lead $15 billion loan
The move is a sign of the Japanese tech investor’s ability to secure financing for its outsize ambitions.
It was reported that Malaysia would deploy 3,000 units of Huawei’s primary AI offering by 2026.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025
Malaysia downplays Huawei deal as U.S. checks China’s AI reach
The move underscores the Asian nation’s delicate position in the U.S.-Chinese AI race.
A U.N. report found that 9.6% of traditionally female jobs were set to be transformed compared with 3.5% of those carried out by men as AI increasingly takes on administrative tasks.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 20, 2025
AI poses a bigger threat to women's work than men's, says U.N. report
Human involvement will still be required for many tasks — and roles are more likely to be radically changed rather than eliminated, the report said.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is among the key Democrats who have raised concerns about Middle East chip deals.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2025
Democrats warn Trump’s Middle East chip deals imperil U.S. security
Key U.S. Senate Democrats have urged the administration of President Donald Trump to revisit new artificial intelligence deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, saying that expanded sales of AI chips to the Middle Eastern countries risk exposing advanced technology to China and Russia,...
A Huawei Ascend AI chip. The U.S. Commerce Department had said in a statement last week that it was issuing guidance to make clear that the use of the Huawei chips is a breach of the U.S. government’s export controls.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2025
China says U.S. warnings on Huawei chips undermine their recent trade talks
The U.S. Commerce Department's warnings specify that the use of Huawei Ascend chips amounts to a breach of the U.S. government’s export controls.
Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella (left) returns to the stage after a pre-recorded interview with Elon Musk was played following the announcement that Grok AI, by Musk's artificial intelligence start up xAI, will be available on Microsoft's Foundry Models, during the Microsoft Build conference opening keynote in Seattle, Washington, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 20, 2025
Microsoft is bringing Elon Musk’s AI models to its cloud
Grok 3, which Musk’s AI outfit introduced earlier this year, will be available on Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, the company said Monday.
Sakana AI Chief Operating Officer Ren Ito (left) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group President Hironori Kamezawa in Tokyo on Friday. The companies have entered into a ¥5 billion ($34 million) deal to automate the creation of banking documents.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025
Sakana AI and MUFG sign agreement to automate creation of banking documents
The AI Scientist, which was originally designed for automating scientific discovery, including manuscript writing and peer review, will be used.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gives a keynote speech at Computex in Taipei on Monday.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2025
Nvidia CEO unveils new technologies to protect AI chip lead
Huang introduced a new RTX Pro Server system, which he said offered four times better performance than Nvidia’s former flagship H100 AI system with DeepSeek workloads.
A projected 8 million deepfakes — manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence — will be shared worldwide in 2025, about a fifth of which will be part of romance scams, according to cyber firm McAfee.
WORLD / Society
May 19, 2025
Deep love or deepfake: Dating in the time of AI
Scammers are increasingly using deepfakes — manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence — to look and sound real on dating apps.
Pakistan's Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets fly over Islamabad in March 2024. Claims that Chinese fighter jets downed advanced Western-made Indian aircraft in recent clashes have caught investors' attention, raising prospects for increased arms sales for Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2025
China’s defense industry is getting a DeepSeek moment
Investors are reassessing Beijing’s military capacity and potential to rise as an arms exporter.
TDK will begin shipping its third iteration of silicon-anode batteries by the end of June, Chief Executive Officer Noboru Saito said.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025
IPhone supplier TDK readies batteries geared for thin AI gadgets
TDK’s battery technology is helping the world’s biggest smartphone makers slim down their gadgets without shortening battery run times.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025
How much will we risk in the name of AI?
AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
SoftBank Group reported net income of ¥517.18 billion ($3.5 billion) in its fiscal fourth quarter, helped by the Vision Fund, which swung to a profit of ¥26.1 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
SoftBank profit doubles as AI demand boosts chip sales and startups
The results come as SoftBank plans to invest $30 billion in OpenAI while leading a $100 billion foray into building AI hardware in the U.S.
Meta’s rapid AI chatbot rollout is raising safety concerns as critics cite inappropriate responses and poor accountability despite its access to vast user data.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2025
Meta’s defense of its rogue AI sounds painfully familiar
The social media platform Meta is going on the attack instead of worrying about its users. How did that work out the last time?
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Saudi-U.S. business investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 14, 2025
Trump’s Middle East visit opens floodgate of AI deals led by Nvidia
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are poised to win wider access to advanced AI chips from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025
Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says
Sakana AI CEO David Ha said that as U.S. foreign policy becomes more U.S.-centric, AI services could serve as “a bargaining chip for countries.”
A humanoid robot walks as an employee conducts tests, on the production line at the AgiBot factory in Shanghai on March 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2025
China's AI-powered humanoid robots aim to transform manufacturing
Beijing is aiming for a new industrial revolution where many factory tasks would be performed by humanoid robots.
Akira Shimada, CEO of NTT, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2025
NTT to launch $16.5 billion tender offer for NTT Data in AI push
Japan’s biggest telecom operator is launching a tender offer of ¥4,000 per share for all stock it doesn’t own in NTT Data.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Trump announces Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel ‘partnership’ deal
U.S. President Donald Trump points as he boards Air Force One en route to New Jersey, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Friday.
Travelers avoid trips to Japan over viral comic book’s quake prediction
Visitors walk along Nakamise-dori as they visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district in March.
Tokyo's Yamanote Line resumes suspended train operations
All services on East Japan Railway's Yamanote Line in Tokyo were suspended for early Friday morning due to wire trouble.
Onosato set for yokozuna promotion after clinching Emperor’s Cup
Onosato after defeating Kotozakura at Ryokugikan in Tokyo on Friday. The win gave him a 13-0 record and clinched the Emperor's Cup, assuring him of promotion to yokozuna next week.
AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?
After last year’s controversy over using AI to write about 5% of her novel, Rie Qudan was asked by an advertising magazine to write a short story where she uses AI for 95% of it. The resulting short story, “Kage no ame” (“Rain Shadow”), was published March 25.  
Six short films that capture our world in mere minutes
“Marion” provides a glimpse into the lives of bull dodgers, who perform a nonlethal version of bullfighting.
As Taiwan looks to boost ‘unofficial ties,’ Paraguay’s leader offers facilitator role
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Thursday.
GCAP next-gen fighter joint venture likely to be running by this summer
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program's fighter jet is displayed during the DSEI Japan defense exhibition in the city of Chiba on Wednesday.
NTT develops world's first 'flying lightning rod' using drones
NTT's drone — aimed at triggering, then redirecting lightning — is described as a "flying lightning rod."

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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