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April 19, 2025
 

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BIG TECH

Since starting out as a venue for short, silly lip-syncing videos, TikTok has emerged as an incubator for consumer trends, with millions of people trying on clothes and reviewing products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2023
TikTok Shop sees early success, taking aim at giant Amazon
In a sign of how seriously Amazon is taking TikTok, the company cut deals with Pinterest, Meta and Snapchat to let users shop without leaving those apps.
Users often do not realize that almost all app notifications travel over Google and Apple's servers, giving the two companies unique insight into the traffic flowing from those apps to their users.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 8, 2023
Smartphone users' push notifications spied on, U.S. senator warns
Users often do not realize that almost all notifications for incoming messages, breaking news and other updates travel over Google and Apple's servers.
Microsoft's artificial intelligence prospects just got a boost from Sam Altman's return to his CEO role at OpenAI.
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2023
Altman’s comeback is a strategic triumph for Microsoft
Sam Altman's termination and swift rehiring will shift the dynamics at OpenAI.
People use smartphones on the street in Tokyo in January 2019.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Nov 20, 2023
The NTT Law — a guard against monopoly, or barrier to innovation?
Some say the law regulating the telecom giant stops it from competing against the likes of Google, but others say it contains vital market protections.
An Apple Store in Shanghai in September
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Nov 19, 2023
Asian regulators turn focus to Big Tech
Across the region, there are indications that Big Tech may soon have to comply with standards that could become international benchmarks.
People stand outside an Apple Store in Shanghai as the new iPhone 15 officially goes on sale across China on Sept. 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023
Apple postpones next year's iPhone and Mac software to fix bugs
Rather than adding new features, company engineers have now been tasked with fixing flaws and improving software performance, sources have said.
In a new program called Lantern, big tech companies will share signals of activity that violate their policies on child exploitation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023
Tech giants pool efforts to fight online child sex abuse
Child victims of abuse online are a hot-button issue for regulators and tech firms are eager to show they are taking adequate measures to protect them.
Meta has said it will bar political advertisers from using Facebook's generative AI tools.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2023
Meta to restrict use of generative AI tools in political adverts
The move may limit campaigns' access to tools lawmakers have warned could turbocharge the spread of election misinformation.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, exits federal court in Washington on Oct. 30.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2023
Google's app store strategy bad for everyone, Epic says in court
Moves by Alphabet to thwart competition hurt developers and raise prices for consumers, the games firm said in opening statements.
Much of the focus on Meta stemmed from a whistleblower's release of documents in 2021 that showed the company knew Instagram, which began as a photo-sharing app, was addictive and worsened body image issues for some teen girls.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 25, 2023
Lawsuits against Meta in 33 states claim Instagram harms children
Children have long been an appealing demographic for businesses, which hope to attract them as consumers at ages when they may be more impressionable.
The Fair Trade Commission has begun a probe on allegations of potential antitrust violations by Google.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 23, 2023
Japan begins probe into Google for alleged antitrust violations
Japan’s antitrust watchdog has begun an investigation into whether Alphabet’s Google abuses its market position to block rival services.
Kiva robots move inventory at an Amazon fulfilment center in Tracy, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 13, 2023
Amazon strategy could unlock $100 billion in revenue
Supply Chain by Amazon is the latest part of its drive to become a leading logistics company.
Alma Zadic, Austria's justice minister, during an interview in Vienna on Sept. 26
WORLD / Politics
Oct 11, 2023
In Europe's politics, disinformation and hate pose growing threat
Austrian Justice Minister Alma Zadic believes public institutions simply don’t have the resources to match the output of bad actors.
Mark Zuckerberg speaks onstage during the Meta Connect Developer Conference in Menlo Park, California, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 28, 2023
Meta unveils AI assistant and Facebook-streaming glasses
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the products as bringing together the virtual and real worlds while emphasizing lower costs.
Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), speaks during an interview in Washington on Tuesday. The FTC has sued Amazon.com, accusing the e-commerce giant of monopolizing online marketplace services by degrading quality for shoppers and overcharging sellers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023
U.S. trade watchdog sues Amazon.com in landmark antitrust case
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 17 states accuse the e-commerce giant of excluding rivals in online marketplace services and stifling competition.
Packages to be delivered on Amazon Prime Day in New York in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023
Why Amazon’s online marketplace drew FTC scrutiny
The FTC’s case against Amazon is an important test of whether Lina Khan’s interpretation of the law will hold up in court.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to the media Wednesday after a closed-door Senate meeting on how artificial intelligence should be regulated.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 14, 2023
Tech leaders discuss AI policy in closed-door senate meeting
The meeting included a prestigious, and possibly combustible, mix of personalities with diverging views on how to write the rules for AI.
David Dahlquist, senior trial counsel in the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice (left), and Kenneth Dintzer, litigator for the U.S. Department of Justice, leave federal court in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023
Google’s search domination began with plan to combat rivals
Google argues the company has won market share because it has the best search engine, not because of a lack of competition.
An Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 8, 2023
Apple grapples with turmoil in China days before iPhone 15 launch
The bans may just be part of a longstanding trend.
Apple shares slid 3.6% after reports that Chinese government agencies will ban iPhones and other foreign-branded devices in workplaces.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 7, 2023
Apple falls on report that China agencies are barring iPhone use
The company enjoys widespread popularity in China, its largest international market.
In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google
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.
Tokyo hotel operators face possible warnings over suspected price cartel
Foreign tourists gather on a platform at Kyoto Station on Wednesday.
Japan and the U.S. begin tariff talks on good terms, but without breakthroughs
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, speaks to reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
Magnitude 5.0 earthquake jolts Nagano
A map showing the location of an earthquake that hit Nagano Prefecture on Friday evening, with the numbers indicating the seismic intensity on the shindo scale to 7.
Parts of Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines to be suspended over weekend
Sections of the outer loop of Tokyo's Yamanote Line and the Keihin-Tohoku Line will be shut down all day Saturday, and from the start of service through around noon on Sunday.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.
Tokyo stock picker advises Trump-proofing portfolios with Godzilla-creator Toho
The head of Godzilla, a Japanese monster movie character, is seen on a building of Toho Cinema in Tokyo. Toho is one tariff-defensive stock being recommended by brokers.
LDP and CDP lawmaker groups propose 0% consumption tax on food
A vegetable stand displays prices at a supermarket in Tokyo in 2023. Some lawmakers are proposing lowering the consumption tax on food to 0%, which is expected to result in a loss of up to ¥5 trillion in tax revenue annually.
Tokyo hotel operators face possible warnings over suspected price cartel
Foreign tourists gather on a platform at Kyoto Station on Wednesday.
Kyotographie 2025 opts for laughter and levity in the face of global strife
Palestinian American photographer Adam Rouhana’s exhibition at this year’s Kyotographie festival shows Palestinian life, not death and rubble.

Podcast

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

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.
By Tomoko Otake

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