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July 05, 2025
 

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AI

Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2025
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
The discovery raises serious concerns about the integrity of the research in the papers and highlights flaws in academic publishing.
The rise of China’s DeepSeek-R1, a low-cost, high-performance open-source AI model, has challenged the belief that only nations with vast computational resources can lead in artificial intelligence, signaling a shift in global AI power dynamics.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 3, 2025
A ‘Sputnik’ moment in the global AI race
Much remains uncertain about DeepSeek’s LLM and its capabilities should not be overestimated — but its release nevertheless has sparked intense discussion.
Recent preprint research suggests students who use ChatGPT to write essays engage in less critical thinking, with different areas of their brains connecting less often.
WORLD / Society
Jul 3, 2025
'Writing is thinking': Brain study prompts debate on ChatGPT use in education
The recent preprint research suggests students who use ChatGPT to write essays engage in less critical thinking, with different areas of their brains connecting less often.
Softbank Corp. is offering $1 billion of dollar bonds in the unit’s first U.S. high-grade deal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2025
SoftBank unit set to raise $1 billion from its first dollar bond
SoftBank Corp.’s five- and 10-year notes are set to respectively price 0.9 and 1.10 percentage points above Treasuries.
This digital visualization shows the small modular nuclear reactor being developed by Rolls-Royce SMR, which is set to be the first in the U.K. A widely cited IEA report says global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030 to 945 TWh — more than Japan’s current total usage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2025
Data centers and small reactors could change Asia’s nuclear dynamic
An estimated 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day and storing and processing all that information creates virtual volcanoes.
Apple Intelligence would rely more heavily on outside technology under a plan being considered by the company.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2025
Apple weighs using Anthropic or OpenAI to power Siri in major reversal
A switch to Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT models for Siri would be an acknowledgment that Apple is struggling to compete in generative AI.
Taiwan, under constant threat from AI-powered disinformation by authoritarian regimes, has emerged as a global leader in digital democratic defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025
Taiwan provides a model for digital defense of democracy
As the U.S. and others struggle to confront AI-driven disinformation, Taiwan’s resilience has become its latest key export.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's controlling interest in the tech titan frees him to have the company invest heavily in artificial intelligence efforts.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 30, 2025
Meta spending big on AI talent but will it pay off?
OpenAI boss Sam Altman recently lamented that Meta has offered $100 million bonuses to engineers who jump to Zuckerberg's ship, where hefty salaries await.
Racks of servers being tested at the new Amazon Web Services facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, on June 3
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 30, 2025
AI data-center boom could destroy Big Tech's net-zero plans
The tech sector faces a "climate strategy crisis" as its data centers demand ever more electricity and water to power growing fields, such as artificial intelligence.
Recent incidents by the world's most advanced artificial intelligence models of lying, scheming and even threatening their creators highlight a sobering reality: more than two years after ChatGPT shook the world, AI researchers still don't fully understand how their own creations work.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2025
AI is learning to lie, scheme and threaten its creators
More than two years after ChatGPT shook the world, AI researchers still don't fully understand how their own creations work.
"We have access to cutting-edge wafers, and our ability to provide cutting-edge process technology will become overwhelmingly faster than Chinese makers,” said Tokyo Electron CEO Toshiki Kawai.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Tokyo Electron shrugs off fears of Chinese rivals catching up
Technology at the company is advancing faster than its Chinese rivals’ due in part to close collaboration with contract chipmakers.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during the company's annual general meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Masayoshi Son hints at succession plan while chasing AI ambition
Son said he plans to hold SoftBank’s reins another 10 years, but added he has several candidates for its next chief in mind.
Pat Gelsinger (left), former Intel CEO and general partner at Playground Global, and Peter Barrett, co-founder and general partner of Playground, in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Former Intel CEO Gelsinger has some advice for Japan's Rapidus
He encourages the chipmaker to distinguish itself in some way from TSMC.
A San Francisco District Court has ruled that Meta's use of copyrighted works to train its AI model was "transformative" enough to constitute "fair use" under copyright law, in the second such courtroom triumph for AI firms this week.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025
U.S. judge rules for Meta in AI training copyright case but says it isn't lawful
The ruling said the authors could have pitched a winning argument — that by training AI with copyrighted works, tech firms are creating competition in the marketplace.
Two mobile phones show different viral AI-generated videos of people voicing their opinions on the impeachment of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 26, 2025
AI fakes duel over Sara Duterte impeachment in Philippines
Two interviews with Filipinos arguing for and against Vice President Duterte's impeachment have gone viral. Neither are real.
Power supply shortages may occur even if nuclear power reactors and aging thermal power plants are rebuilt, an industry organization warns.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 26, 2025
Japan's power demand may grow by up to 40% by 2050
A report warned that supply shortages may occur even if nuclear power reactors and aging thermal power plants are rebuilt.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s second-term tech policy consolidates AI regulatory power in the White House, empowering American tech giants at the expense of state authority, international cooperation and democratic oversight.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2025
The 'Washington Effect' could decide the AI race
While Trump administration officials pressure foreign governments to ease up on U.S. firms, Congress moves to block state-level oversight altogether.
While a trained beekeeper can quickly look at frames in a hive assess their health, AI can do it even faster.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 24, 2025
How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse
Beewise’s units help cut down on losses by providing a near-constant stream of information on colony health in real time and give beekeepers the ability to respond.
A draft interim report calls on social media service providers to introduce voluntary regulations designed to suspend monetization in the event of a disaster, to curb the spread of disinformation.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2025
Japan aims to regulate social media monetization in disasters
The report calls on social media service providers to suspend monetization in the event of a disaster, to curb the spread of disinformation.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and his OpenAI counterpart, Sam Altman, attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in early February. The SoftBank founder is now proposing his most ambitious venture yet — a $1 trillion AI and robotics hub in Arizona.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2025
The magical thinking of Masa Son
The race to lead the world in AI-enabled robots is still in the early stages, but many signs point to China coming out on top.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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