Tag - tech

 
 

TECH

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the first national security memorandum detailing how intelligence agencies should use and protect artificial intelligence technology.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2024
White House urges agencies to adopt AI for military and spy use
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the nation must extend its lead on AI while also managing the risks.
People from Thailand look at used smartphones in Tokyo's Akihabara district in October 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 23, 2024
Japan's secondhand smartphone market booms as households struggle
Sales of used goods in Japan have grown rapidly as households struggle to make ends meet.
The Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 23, 2024
Three Mile Island nuclear plant gears up for Big Tech reboot
Giant cooling towers at the plant have sat dormant for so long that grass has sprung up in the towers' hollowed-out bases and wildlife roam inside.
Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, speaks at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Oct. 11.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 21, 2024
The unsinkable Mark Karpeles is willing to give Tokyo another shot
The former CEO of Mt. Gox, which once processed the majority of bitcoin transactions globally before it blew up in 2014, is looking to set up shop in Japan again.
The ASML headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on Thursday. Semiconductor equipment makers such as ASML have unusually long-range views of how their customers are feeling, and at the moment, they’re flashing a caution signal for everything other than artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2024
ASML shows chasm in chip land: AI winners versus everyone else
The semiconductor equipment makers’ results sparked worries about the health of the chip industry, which is being hurt by weakness in non-AI businesses.
Prosecutors and child safety advocates say generative AI systems can allow offenders to morph and sexualize ordinary photos of children.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2024
U.S. prosecutors see rising threat of AI-generated child sex abuse imagery
Cases involving AI-generated sex abuse imagery are likely to tread new legal ground, particularly when an identifiable child is not depicted.
The Tokyo Electron logo is displayed at the Semicon Japan exhibition in Tokyo last December.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 19, 2024
Japan pressed by U.S. lawmakers to strengthen chip curbs on China
China remains a crucial and lucrative market for all chip toolmakers, and officials in Tokyo and the Hague are cautious about imposing more restrictions.
Giving schoolchildren a tablet with personalized, adaptive software to use for one hour a day in school can significantly boost learning, as a widespread program in Malawi has shown.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2024
Tablets in schools can dramatically improve learning
Much richer countries can also learn from an innovative program in Malawi in which children use a tablet for one hour a day in class, boosting their education.
Japanese firm Space Entertainment Laboratory is showcasing a model of its fully autonomous, battery-powered Hamadori 3000 amphibious drone at this week's Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2024
Drone solutions take center stage in Tokyo aerospace show
A flurry of dual-use unmanned aerial vehicles are being showcased, a testament to their growing popularity and the Defense Ministry’s increasing demand for them.
Ubitus, which received funding from Nvidia earlier this year, joins a growing list of tech companies at the forefront of a global revival in nuclear power.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2024
Nvidia-backed firm eyes a data center near nuclear power in Japan
The Nvidia-backed company Ubitus joins a growing list of tech companies at the forefront of a global revival in nuclear power.
Toyota Research Institute and Boston Dynamics are set to conduct research on use cases for AI-trained robots in areas such as human-robot interaction.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2024
Toyota joins with Hyundai's Boston Dynamics on AI-powered robots
Toyota has said it has made a breakthrough with artificial intelligence in teaching robots to learn.
A Blade battery on display at BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2024
Apple secretly worked with BYD on long-range EV battery, sources say
Sources claim the firms teamed up around 2017 to build a battery system using lithium iron phosphate cells.
Silver Rathalos was among several monsters in the Monster Hunter universe that debuted at an in-person Monster Hunter Now event in Shibuya hosted by developer Niantic on the weekend of Oct. 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2024
Gamers hunt for monsters in Tokyo as Niantic searches for a hit
In Monster Hunter Now, the San Francisco-based company behind Pokemon Go is looking to emulate the success of the immensely popular 2016 game.
A farmer salvages some of the harvest from a flooded rice field near Hanoi on Sept. 24
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 16, 2024
AI enhances flood warnings but cannot fully erase risk of disaster
One issue is that the effectiveness of an artificial intelligence model is only as good as the information it is fed.
ASML shares slumped 16% on Tuesday after third-quarter figures were mistakenly released earlier than scheduled.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2024
ASML shares plunge as bookings miss signals chipmaker woes
Its 16% tumble — the biggest decline since 1998 — also triggered a broad downturn in chip-related stocks.
Nearly two-thirds of parents of Australian teenagers reported concerns about their children's social media use, according to a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.
WORLD / Society
Oct 16, 2024
Australia's planned social media ban raises teen isolation fears
For teenagers from migrant, LGBTQIA+ and other minority backgrounds, an age block could cut off access to essential social support.
CEATEC brings together 808 companies and organizations from Japan and abroad.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2024
CEATEC begins near Tokyo as humanity enters 'a new era' with AI
The trade fair showcases products and services that employ artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
Amazon is seeking to source more clean power agreements in Southeast Asia and India.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Oct 12, 2024
Amazon prefers renewables in Asia as nuclear still elusive
While Asia remains one of the most challenging geographies to acquire green power, it’s the region with the greatest potential.
Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
BUSINESS / Tech / Longform
Oct 12, 2024
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep
After years of sleep deficits and drowsy mornings, a growing number of products and services are being developed to help us rest easier.
Efforts to protect neurological data have proliferated in recent years, as electronic devices available directly to consumers become capable of capturing medical-grade brain data similar to what neurologists would use to diagnose patients.
WORLD
Oct 11, 2024
A new frontier of data privacy in the U.S. — your brain
California's new law defines neurological data as "sensitive personal information," a class of data that includes DNA, precise geolocation and other protected data.

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.