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September 18, 2025
 

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TECH

A screenshot from the website for Alt's AI conference, which was canceled after the company disclosed an investigation into its sales figures.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2025
Don't send in the clones: AI event nixed as Alt accounts get reality check
An artificial intelligence conference set for May 16 that was to introduce digital clones has been canceled after the company involved was accused of accounting irregularities.
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.
Tapple, one of Japan's most popular dating apps, has launched the nation's first feature to verify a user's single status via their My Number card.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Single, or not? Japanese dating app launches relationship verification system
With Tapple boasting over 20 million users, worries about dishonest relationship statuses were common.
Toyota and Alphabet’s Waymo, along with Toyota’s automotive-technology division Woven, will seek to develop a new autonomous-driving platform, according to a joint statement Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2025
Toyota to partner with Alphabet’s Waymo on autonomous technology
Toyota and other major Japanese firms have poured money into artificial intelligence and autonomous driving for years, but have struggled to keep pace.
A woman takes part in an OpenNyAI field trial in Bengaluru, India, in April 2023. The AI trial was aimed at helping some of the nation’s poorest people access money from government anti-poverty programs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2025
Will AI close or widen the development gap?
The social, economic and political effects of AI will not naturally bend toward inclusion or equity across the global economy.
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.
A USB-type charging connector of a laptop was burned during charging due to foreign objects also being in the charging port.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Technology institute warns of digital device accidents amid a series of fires
The warning comes as some students interact with electronic devices for the first time under the "giga school" initiative of distributing information devices to every student.
The Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion was issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce a week before the end of the Biden administration. The Trump administration is now trying to alter it.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 30, 2025
Trump officials eye changes to Biden's AI chip export rule
Removing the tier system could open the door to using U.S. chips as an even more powerful negotiating tool in trade talks.
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.
Sony is considering spinning off its semiconductor unit, sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2025
Sony weighs chip spinoff that Dan Loeb called for years ago
The chip business makes industry-leading image sensors that go into cameras inside Apple and Xiaomi phones.
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Apr 27, 2025
Japan struggles with gray zone of AI deepfakes exploiting children
AI-generated content is not explicitly covered under the country's legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
Takahiro Fujii (center), the president of Try and E, and his lawyers speak during a news conference on Friday in Tokyo after a ruling was handed down in a case against Amazon Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025
Tokyo court fines Amazon Japan ¥35 million over counterfeit products
Presiding Judge Yuko Shintani deemed Amazon’s response to the issue to be “indicative of willful misconduct, or at the very least, gross negligence.”
The House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday to promote the development of artificial intelligence technology and take steps to mitigate its risks.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 25, 2025
Japan's Lower House passes AI promotion bill
AI "will be the foundation of economic and social development and is an important technology from the viewpoint of security," the bill said.
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
The tariffs add another layer of uncertainty for consumers already hesitating due to the yen's weakness and inflation.
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.
A quantum computer developed by Fujitsu and Riken shown on Tuesday in Wako, Saitama Prefecture
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2025
Fujitsu and Riken develop world-leading quantum computer
Competition is intensifying in Japan and abroad for making quantum computers smaller and improving error detection methods.
The U.S., U.K. and Europe are aligning with China and Russia in their efforts to undermine the encryption tools that millions of internet users depend on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2025
Don't let governments break encryption
To convince the public that breaking encryption is necessary, governments often rely on technical jargon and emotionally charged anecdotes.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the start of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2025
Nvidia CEO urges LDP to build up Japan’s AI infrastructure
Japan has pledged to increase government and corporate funding in AI to over ¥50 trillion ($350 billion) in the next 10 years.
Sumitomo and SBI Holdings will invest in FPT Smart Cloud Japan, which oversees FPT’s Japan AI data center.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025
Sumitomo and SBI Holdings to take stakes in Vietnam’s FPT AI unit
FPT is setting up a Japan AI data center, with an initial investment of $200 million.
Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot, crosses the finish line after securing the first position during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025
All hail the rise of the humanoid robots
Robotics is another of the critical emerging technologies, mastery of which will be central to 21st-century economic leadership.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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