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BIG

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.
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?
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The ministry summoned Japan Airport Terminal president Kazuhito Tanaka over misconduct related to a massage chair business in a terminal at Haneda Airport.
Japan Airport Terminal President Nobuaki Yokota and Chairman Isao Takashiro resigned amid an internal probe into favoritism toward a consulting firm led by a son of Makoto Koga, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, related to massage chair installations at the terminal buildings of an airport.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2025
Japan Airport Terminal's top execs step down amid corruption scandal
The company said it accepted resignation offers from the two top executives the same day.
Google has been pushing back on the remedies proposed by the U.S. to address its search dominance — one of which is sharing search data with rivals.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 3, 2025
U.S. presses for Google to share data by citing Yahoo Japan deal
Google has long had a relationship with Yahoo Japan to provide it with search results and some backend work related to search advertising.
While the results were better than analysts had expected, investors are focused on how tariff concerns will play out in the coming quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2025
Tim Cook says unchanged U.S. tariffs could dent Apple’s next-quarter margins
Apple Q2 beats expectations but warns that unchanged tariffs could cost the company $900 million and requires drastic supply-chain realignment.
The Apple App Store app on an iPhone on June 25, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
May 1, 2025
Apple must halt non-app store sales commissions, judge says
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with a court order.
Amazon packages at a distribution center in Washington
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2025
Amazon denies tariff label pivot after Trump called to complain
The administration’s broadsides against Amazon on Tuesday highlighted the potential political risk for companies if they decide to break out the cost of tariffs for customers.
Microsoft signage in New York on Oct. 25, 2024. Microsoft’s sudden decision to pause work on some data centers suggests cloud computing providers may be reevaluating expenditures.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 29, 2025
Big Tech’s earnings problem is estimates may be way too high
There’s little expectation executives will be able to give estimates with any degree of confidence, given the high level of macroeconomic uncertainty.
A company linked to the son of former Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Makoto Koga is at the center of an income concealment case involving about ¥100 million tied to massage chair operations at Haneda Airport.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2025
Haneda terminal operator unit underreports income by ¥100 million
The subsidiary, Big Wing, was found to have concealed the income in connection with the business of installing massage chairs.
Apple responded fiercely to the European Union penalty, accusing the bloc’s regulators of discriminating against the company and forcing it to give away its technology for free.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Apple and Meta hit by $798 million in EU tech fines after Trump threats
The punishments are far lower than previous ones under traditional EU competition law, and are likely to be seen as an attempt to avoid provoking Trump.
The Google logo at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas in 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2025
Google could use AI to extend search monopoly, DOJ says as trial begins
The search giant argues that subjecting it to the DOJ's proposed remedies "would hold back American innovation at a critical juncture."
A U.S. judge’s ruling against Google’s ad tech business marks a rare antitrust case with a clear remedy, threatening a key revenue stream and signaling a potential shift in the digital advertising landscape.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2025
Google’s money-printing machine can be easily dismantled
On Thursday, a district court judge handed down a ruling that threatens to dismantle part of that money-printing machine.
The proposal reportedly calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store communication records for a fixed period.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
LDP proposal would require telecom companies to store usage records
The proposal calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store metadata and usage records for a fixed period.
The U.S. Justice Department and a group of states sued Google in 2023, arguing the company illegally monopolized three separate markets related to the technology used for online display advertising: ad servers, exchanges and networks.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 18, 2025
Google loses key antitrust case over ad tech practices
Google has lost a key antitrust case over its ad tech dominance, as a judge found it used exclusionary tactics that hurt rivals, publishers, and consumers.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, departs federal court in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 17, 2025
Meta saw TikTok as ‘highly urgent’ threat, Zuckerberg says at trial
Zuckerberg was composed, but occasionally evasive, when challenged to explain past messages indicating a concerted effort to muscle out competitors.
A U.S. security report cites DeepSeek’s ties to Chinese government interests as "significant.”
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025
DeepSeek poses ‘profound’ security threat, U.S. house panel claims
The committee urged Nvidia to hand over information on sales of chips that the Chinese startup may have used to develop its breakthrough chatbot model.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg departs after attending a Federal Trade Commission trial at a U.S. District Court in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 16, 2025
Zuckerberg defends strategy behind Instagram, WhatsApp deals
The Federal Trade Commission alleges the acquisitions of the two apps give Meta Platforms a social media monopoly, and is fighting to break up the company.
The Google logo is seen at the company's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. Japanese authorities on Tuesday issued a cease-and-desist order to Google over an alleged violation of the country's anti-monopoly law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2025
In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google
The Japan Fair Trade Commission has accused the U.S. tech giant of violating the country's anti-monopoly law by forcing manufacturers to preinstall its apps in smartphones.
People walk through an Apple Store in Hong Kong on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2025
Apple was on brink of crisis before tariff concession from Trump
Donald Trump’s 125% tariffs on goods produced in China threatened to upend its supply chain as seriously as the COVID-19 snarls did five years ago.

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