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September 01, 2025
 

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AI

Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet, presented a vision of AI that was at once optimistic about the technology’s possibilities and sober-minded about some of its present limitations, at an event at the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 5, 2025
Alphabet CEO expects to keep hiring engineers while AI advances
Alphabet's CEO presented a vision of AI that was at once optimistic about the technology’s possibilities and sober-minded about some of its present limitations.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday to discuss enhancing Japan's international competitiveness in the field of intellectual property.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025
Government adopts new intellectual property program to enhance competitiveness
The government aims to raise the country's ranking in the World Intellectual Property Organization's annual Global Innovation Index to fourth or higher by 2035.
TSMC’s plan to build a second factory in Kumamoto Prefecture is key to Japan’s ambitions to regain leadership in semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025
TSMC flags delays in Japan expansion while U.S. plans advance
The sudden influx of workers from TSMC’s first plant is already bogging down rural infrastructure in Japan.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (third from left) speaks at a Council for Gender Equality meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan to promote women's startups as part of push to stop rural outflow
Seeing fewer job prospects for women in the countryside as a problem, the government will improve consulting systems for business startups in rural areas.
A woman attends the World AI Conference in Shanghai in July 2023. Although AI models are showing more deceptive and self-protective behavior, some governments are scaling back safety efforts just as oversight is becoming most critical.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2025
AI sometimes deceives to survive. But is there anybody who cares?
AI is showing some bright red flags: behavior described by researchers as self-preserving and deceptive.
Samsung and Perplexity are in talks regarding preloading Perplexity’s app and assistant on upcoming Samsung devices.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 2, 2025
Samsung nears wide-ranging deal with Perplexity for AI features
Samsung is planning to announce the Perplexity integrations as early as this year, sources said.
Visitors at the EdgeCortix booth during the AI Expo Tokyo event in Tokyo in May 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Japan backs AI chip startup EdgeCortix in boost to defense tech
The startup secured government subsidies of ¥3 billion to develop energy-efficient AI chiplets for commercialization in 2027.
A new law to promote the development of artificial intelligence while addressing its risks passed at an Upper House plenary meeting on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2025
Japan enacts bill to promote AI development and address its risks
The new law includes a provision to allow the government to disclose the names of malicious businesses in the event of crime using AI.
Peter Mandelson, British Ambassador to the U.S.
WORLD
May 28, 2025
U.K. envoy urges trans-Atlantic tech alliance, citing China threat
Ambassador Peter Mandelson warned of the consequences if China continues to get ahead in AI and other key technologies.
AI hallucinations — when generative models fabricate information — are becoming more frequent, harder to detect and increasingly dangerous as we embed the technology deeper into society.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025
AI hallucinations? What could go wrong?
The notion that we can’t ensure that AI will produce accurate information is, uh, “disturbing” if we intend to integrate that product so deeply into our daily lives.
Jack Ma attends his company Alibaba Group's initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014. After a long absence from the public sphere, Ma recently attended a government-led private enterprises symposium in Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 26, 2025
Harnessing China’s tech giants: The case of Jack Ma
Alibaba founder Jack Ma's rehabilitation into public life signals China's intention to steer its tech entrepreneurs to do business with broader national interests in mind.
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.  
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2025
AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?
Last year, Rie Qudan faced controversy after admitting that chatGPT wrote 5% of her novel. Now she’s published a story she only wrote 5% herself, leaving 95% to 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.
The U.S. military’s longstanding dominance is eroding as China exploits its vulnerabilities with cheaper, faster and smarter warfare, demanding urgent American reinvention in energy, logistics and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025
America’s hard power must get harder — quickly
Aircraft carriers and fighter jets look a lot less stealthy in a world of limitless drones and autonomous submarines.
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.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
How Tokyo's Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
How Tokyo's Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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