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April 29, 2024
 

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Apple and OpenAI have begun discussing terms of a possible agreement on how some artificial intelligence features would be integrated into the next iPhone operating system, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2024
Apple intensifies talks with OpenAI for iPhone generative AI features
The latest development comes about a month and a half before an Apple conference where it's poised to introduce new AI software and services.
TikTok accounts for a small share of ByteDance's total revenues and daily active users, so the parent would rather have the app shut down in the U.S. in a worst-case scenario than sell it to a potential American buyer, sources said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 26, 2024
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, sources say
A shutdown would have limited impact on its business, and it would not have to give up its "secret sauce" — the algorithm that pushes videos to users.
Four scam victims in Japan have sued Meta over fake online investment ads posted on Facebook that use images of celebrities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2024
Meta sued in Japan over celebrity investment scams
Social media online hoaxes in Japan led to ¥27.8 billion in losses last year, according to the National Police Agency.
The Fair Trade Commission took an administrative action against Google for using tactics that limited Yahoo Japan’s ability to compete in targeted search ads.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2024
Japan watchdog says Google hurt local rival’s ability to compete
From 2015 to 2022, Google blocked Yahoo Japan from technology needed to receive targeted ad revenue from searches on mobile devices, the FTC said.
One of the lawyers representing a group of doctors suing Google told a news conference that the main purpose of the lawsuit is not to seek compensation but instead to raise awareness over various problems with the Google Maps system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2024
In a first, Japan doctors sue Google over negative reviews on firm's map app
The suit is the first in Japan — and possibly the world — to target a platform rather than the individuals who posted the reviews, lawyers said.
Japan's Fair Trade Commission may take administrative action against Google over its digital advertising business.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2024
Japan FTC may take administrative action against Google
The FTC suspects that Google is unfairly restricting transactions on Yahoo Japan and messaging app Line, in violation of Japan's antimonopoly law.
An Apple store in Shanghai. Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024
Activists press Apple over Vietnam's detention of climate experts
Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
James Manyika, who heads Google’s technology and society team, delivers the keynote address at Google I/O in Mountain View, California, in 2023. OpenAI, Google and Meta ignored corporate policies, altered their own rules and discussed skirting copyright law as they sought online information to train their newest artificial intelligence systems.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2024
How tech giants cut corners to harvest data for AI
The companies’ actions illustrate how online information has increasingly become the lifeblood of the booming AI industry.
The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft's tying of Office and Teams since 2020.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024
Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny
The company started selling the two products separately in the EU and Switzerland on Oct. 1 last year.
The Alphabet unit allegedly surreptitiously collected user browsing data when they were in "incognito" mode.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024
Google agrees to delete web browsing data as it settles ‘incognito’ lawsuit
The case, filed in 2020, alleged that Google surreptitiously collected user's browsing history when they were in "incognito" mode.
CrowdTangle, bought by the firm now known as Meta in 2016, offers crucial real-time transparency into the spread of conspiracy theories and hate speech on influential Meta-owned platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Meta to switch off tool that tracks misinformation months before U.S. vote
CrowdTangle offers crucial real-time transparency into the spread of conspiracy theories and hate speech.
Last year the EU designated six companies — including Apple and Google — as "gatekeepers" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 26, 2024
Why is the EU probing Big Tech under the Digital Markets Act?
Violations could result in fines of as much as 10% of a company's global annual turnover.
The United States has abandoned its long-standing demand for World Trade Organization provisions to protect cross-border data flows.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2024
The U.S. is jeopardizing the open internet
The U.S. has changed its stance at the WTO on cross-border data flows, a move that could seriously harm the open internet that so many benefit from.
Dating back to its time as a marginal player in the personal computer market, Apple's business model has long been based on charging users a premium for technology products where the company dictates nearly all of the details of how the device works and can be used.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 22, 2024
Apple accused of monopolizing smartphone markets in U.S. antitrust lawsuit
The suit seeks to free markets from the iPhone maker's "anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct and restoring competition to lower prices for consumers."
A man walks through the financial and business district of La Defense, near Paris, on March 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2024
EU's new gig-worker rules could tame 'management by algorithm'
The opaque nature of algorithmic management tools can result in random job assignments and performance ratings, and even termination.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose company launched a pair of smart glasses, on stage at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2023
Do you want Meta snooping in your closet with AI wearables?
AI wearable devices represent yet another intrusion into our privacy, allowing tech companies to learn even more about who we are — and what we might buy.
The EU hit Apple with a €1.8 billion fine ($1.9 billion) on Monday for violating the bloc's laws by preventing music streaming services from informing users about subscription options outside of its App Store.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2024
EU fines Apple €1.8 billion over curbs on music streaming services
The European Union found Apple had violated law by preventing music streaming services from telling users about subscription options outside its App Store.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during an event at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 29, 2024
Biden cracks down on U.S. data flows to China and Russia
Seeking to protect American personal data, Biden unveiled an executive order barring genomic data transfers to China and other "countries of concern."
Chris Marchese (center), Director of NetChoice Litigation Center, speaks to the press outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Monday. In a case that could determine the future of social media in the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked today to decide whether a pair of state laws that limit content moderation are constitutional.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court torn over legal bid to restrict social media moderation
Republican-backed laws in Florida and Texas are being challenged by tech industry trade groups whose members include Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap.
A man claimed Amazon promised "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming” of entertainment through Prime Video. He alleges the company reneged on the deal and is suing.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2024
Amazon shouldn't be swindling users
The tech giant is being sued for charging subscribers more than advertised: Not what you'd expect from a self-professed customer-obsessed company.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Putin’s war will soon reach Russians’ tax bills
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima
Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

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