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November 18, 2025
 

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TECH

Investors appear to be skeptical that artificial intelligence will generate widespread prosperity despite its potential for significant profits in certain sectors.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2025
What does the market really think about AI?
Investors appear to be skeptical that artificial intelligence will generate widespread prosperity despite its potential for significant profits in certain sectors.
An Apollo Go vehicle in Dubai
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 27, 2025
Chinese robotaxis race Waymo to take driverless cars global
The dominant EV industry China has built for decades gives its autonomous-vehicle companies a potential advantage over U.S. hopefuls.
Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank is turning to expensive hybrid bonds and other financing methods to fund its $30 billion investment in OpenAI, as it faces growing pressure from high debt, low cash flow and competition from AI giants like Nvidia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2025
SoftBank’s OpenAI ambition is far too grand for banks
On a stand-alone basis, as of the end of June, the company held more than twice as many bonds as bank loans.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
Hopes for Xi-Trump summit dampened by tough Beijing moves and rising tension
Even if the talks get back on track, experts say a narrow deal on a few issues is the most likely outcome.
The Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Any sweeping technology restrictions on China could disrupt a fragile U.S. economy already absorbing the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
U.S. considers broad software curbs on China, White House says
The acknowledgment came following a report that the U.S. was weighing efforts similar to the curbs implemented against Russia.
SoftBank has raised at least $24 billion in loans and bonds so far in 2025 and is seeking to raise more in the overseas bond market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2025
SoftBank seeks $2 billion in bond sales as it chases AI bets
The Japanese technology investment giant has raised at least $24 billion in loans and bonds so far in 2025.
An Amazon Web Services Data Center known in Ashburn, Virginia, on Monday
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Amazon's AWS nears recovery after outage disrupts apps and services worldwide
It was the largest internet disruption since last year's CrowdStrike malfunction hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports.
AWS provides on-demand computing power, data storage and other digital services to companies, governments and individuals.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 20, 2025
Many websites and apps go dark as Amazon's cloud unit reports global outage
AI startup Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS.
Magnetic slices made from rare earth metals. Beijing last week announced a sweeping set of rules that are set to restrict the flow of rare earths worldwide.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2025
China’s rare earth restrictions aim to beat U.S. at its own game
The impacts of the Chinese licensing system would be much broader than U.S. technology controls, which have targeted only more advanced computer chips.
Scammers are using AI-generated content of baseball stars like Shohei Ohtani to pull in users.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 20, 2025
Scammers drawing in fans with fake AI content of MLB stars during playoffs
Experts warn that this strategy of pulling in users can be used to grow accounts that are later sold or rented to more nefarious disinformation campaigns.
In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 20, 2025
Japan leads in in-depth AI awareness, new global study finds
The survey also found that In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”
AI’s potential to resolve advanced economies’ debt and growth issues is uncertain as it faces significant obstacles and may exacerbate political unrest, inequality and global conflicts.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2025
Will AI pay off the West’s debts?
To be sure, a wildly upbeat assessment of AI’s potential impact on economic growth has propelled asset markets higher over the last few years.
Yukinori Takada, president of Sumitomo Life Insurance, is interviewed on Wednesday in Bellevue in Washington.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2025
Sumitomo Life to mull using AI tech to support sales agents
The comments followed a series of scandals in the industry that called into question the relationships between life insurance companies and their sales agents.
Silicon semiconductor wafers pass through a wet chemical cleaning machine at a Nexperia plant. The company is the latest to be caught in an escalating global trade spat leading up to China’s high-stakes talks with the United States.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2025
Carmakers push to secure chips as China trade spat escalates
While Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump are to meet this month to hammer out a trade accord, both sides announced restrictions that have raised tensions.
The age of sonic AI slop? No studio, no humans at the microphone, not even a recording — yet out comes a lively podcast, banter and all.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 17, 2025
Mass-produced AI podcasts disrupt a fragile industry
Virtual hosts are taking over podcasting, as AI-driven shows multiply and challenge what it means to create — or listen.
Tokyo police believe the man made about 20,000 sexually explicit images of 262 women, such as actors and idols, and amassed sales of ¥1.2 million between October last year and September this year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2025
Man held in Japan on suspicion of creating female celeb deepfakes made with AI
It is the first time for police in Japan to crack down on sexual deepfake images of celebrities created using generative artificial intelligence.
Sora 2, a short-form video app made by OpenAI, enables users to create realistic AI videos with text prompts, but critics say that there are insufficient guardrails — from a lack of copyright consideration to families of public figures upset by the reanimation of their loved ones.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2025
Japan’s government asks OpenAI to seek permission amid Sora 2 copyright concerns
Sora 2 enables users to create realistic AI videos with text prompts, but critics say that there are insufficient guardrails.
Developers work inside the office of AI startup LimeChat in Bengaluru on Aug. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2025
India's IT sector faces seismic shift as AI displaces call-center workers
The outcome of India's gamble carries weight far beyond its borders — a test case for whether embracing AI-driven disruption can elevate an economy or render it a cautionary tale.
Anthropic said its annual revenue run rate is approaching $7 billion this month, but declined to comment on future projections.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2025
Anthropic aims to nearly triple annualized revenue in 2026
The AI startup said its annual revenue run rate is approaching $7 billion this month, but declined to comment on future projections.
The market for ed tech, or educational technology, will grow some 1.4 times from fiscal 2021 to ¥362.5 billion in fiscal 2027, Nomura Research Institute estimates.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
Japan taps education technology to help ease burden on teachers
The market for "ed tech" will grow some 1.4 times from fiscal 2021 to ¥362.5 billion in fiscal 2027, Nomura Research Institute estimates.
A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
Fears rise of rupture in Japan-China ties in wake of Taiwan remarks
Two Chinese tourists wearing kimonos take a selfie as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.
Ashfall warning issued in southern Japan as volcano erupts
View of Sakurajima from the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Good fortune, wrapped in fried tofu
Golden "age-fukuburo," a culinary take on Japan's new year "lucky bags," can be served on their own.
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
The challenges awaiting Japan’s new finance minister
Finance minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions from reporters in a group interview on Oct. 24.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.

Podcast

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

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

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