Tag - ai

 
 

AI

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda talks about the firm's Woven City smart town during the 2025 CES event in Las Vegas on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Toyota aims to open its futuristic city near Mount Fuji this year
The initial residents of Woven City will be composed mostly of the carmaker’s own employees and their families.
TDK CEO Noboru Saito said the Tokyo-based company plans to start mass production of its third-generation silicon-anode cells from late summer.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2025
iPhone supplier TDK rolls out new batteries to keep pace with AI
From late summer, the Tokyo-based company plans to start mass production of its silicon-anode cells, which carry more energy than conventional ones.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 3, 2025
AI has not yet destroyed democracy
The worst predictions about AI disrupting the democratic process were not borne out in 2024.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Nomura Holdings Inc. and SBI Holdings Inc. are among at least 20 companies that have invested in X&KSK Fund, which is set up by former national soccer star Keisuke Honda.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025
Soccer star Honda’s venture capital AI fund raises $98 million
Keisuke Honda, who has scored goals in three World Cups, seeks to create a so-called decacorn in Japan — a closely held company with a market value of more than $10 billion.
As the march of AI accelerates, a new requirement has become apparent: The next breakthroughs will consume colossal quantities of energy.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 3, 2025
We need energy for AI, and AI for energy
AI guzzles electricity — a single ChatGPT query requires 10 times as much as a conventional web search.
A massive ring-shaped roof at the venue of the Osaka Expo
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2025
Advanced medical and AI technologies to be showcased at Osaka Expo
The event is scheduled to kick off on April 13.
The current focus on autonomous vehicles has obscured something else: AI has already de-skilled driving as a profession.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 2, 2025
Our AI near-future
We can look forward to many years of instability as AI technology continues to make rapid progress.
A pedestrian shares the sidewalk with a food delivery robot in Los Angeles.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 31, 2024
The world needs a pro-human AI agenda
It is both technically feasible and socially desirable to have AI that complements workers, improves our information ecosystem, and strengthens democracy.
Sales of Ibiden's AI-use substrates are robust, with customers buying up all the company can sell.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024
Nvidia supplier Ibiden weighs faster expansion for AI demand
Sales of the 112-year-old company’s AI-use substrates are robust, with customers buying up all that Ibiden can sell, CEO Koji Kawashima said in an interview.
World leaders meet at the United Nations in New York in September to adopt the Pact for the Future. One of its key annexes is the Global Digital Compact, a framework to secure an open and human-centered digital future for all.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024
To serve humankind, AI must be shaped by U.N. values
The U.N.'s Global Digital Compact is the first universal agreement on the international governance of AI. It seeks to ensure an open and equitable digital future for all.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from the left) speaks at the AI Strategy Council meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2024
Japan panel seeks law to have AI developers help in case of problems
The government will work so that it can introduce legislation during next year's ordinary parliamentary session, at the earliest.
Film festivals around the world are giving space to AI-generated cinematic experiences, with Venice and Cannes among the heavy hitters with sections dedicated to "immersive" works, including those made using virtual and augmented reality.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2024
Asia’s film industry should balance AI with human creativity
AI is revolutionizing cinema. Japan and Asia as a whole are well-positioned to harness technology to empower storytelling while retaining film's essentially human nature.
Ukrainian servicemen attach an anti-tank mine to a Vampire combat drone before flying over Russian troop positions, in the town of Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, in June.
WORLD
Dec 21, 2024
Ukraine collects vast war data trove to train AI models
AI has been deployed by both sides on the battlefield during Russia's invasion of Ukraine to identify targets, scanning images far quicker than a human can.
For language learners under 40 in Japan, AI tools such as ChatGPT are now preferred over in-person classes or radio language programs.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2024
AI services growing in popularity among younger language learners in Japan
The number of people using AI language tools grew by more than 80% in 2024, a recent survey showed.
While ByteDance faces a possible TikTok ban in the U.S. and China targets Nvidia, tensions escalate, posing risks for global tech companies caught in the conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024
From TikTok to Nvidia, the tech war is getting uglier
While ByteDance faces a possible TikTok ban in the U.S. and China targets Nvidia, tensions escalate, posing risks for global tech companies caught in the conflict.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe says athlete welfare is at the top of the organization's priority list.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Dec 19, 2024
World Athletics uses AI to protect 25 athletes targeted by cyberbullies
World Athletics recently unveiled findings of a four-year report analyzing online abuse in the sport.
Google new quantum computing chip Willow. Though the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use, the competition to build error-free quantum computers is heating up, promising significant breakthroughs in the near future.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024
Google is pushing quantum computing closer to reality
The Willow chip should focus investor attention on an industry that has been quietly making great strides toward developing quantum machines with practical uses.
Asian tech leaders are spearheading AI's shift to robotics, with China, Japan and South Korea leading global innovation in hardware.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024
AI robots are coming, and they’ll be made in Asia
Citigroup projects that there would be 1.3 billion AI robots globally by 2035 and 4 billion by 2050, doing everything from household chores to delivering parcels.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump embraces SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2024
SoftBank pledges $100 billion U.S. investment at Trump event
SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son’s announcement this time marks the highest-profile commitment by a company to expand investment in the U.S. since Trump’s election win.
Thimphu TechPark building in Thimphu, Bhutan, on Oct. 17
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 16, 2024
Secret to AI profitability is hiring a lot more doctorates
Nagging questions persist about whether AI will actually prove useful enough for businesses around the world to pay up for it.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.