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TECH

SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son (right) and Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia, take part in a fireside chat at the Nvidia AI Summit Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2024
Masayoshi Son is trying to make up for past mistakes
SoftBank, once Nvidia’s top shareholder, dumped its stake — oops! — before the chipmaker became one of the most valuable companies in the world.
A poster in the Tamil language advertises smartphone assembly roles outside a shop in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in India, on Oct. 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 18, 2024
Foxconn tells India recruiters: Nix marital status in iPhone job ads
The move follows an investigation published June 25 that found Foxconn excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle on May 21. Altman recently fired off a social media post saying "There is no wall" as fears arise over potential blockages to AI development.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024
Is AI's meteoric rise beginning to slow?
Industry insiders are beginning to acknowledge that large language models aren't scaling endlessly higher at breakneck speed when pumped with more power and data.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 17, 2024
Trump's shadow looms as Xi and Biden hold final meeting
The talks focused broadly on efforts by Washington and Beijing to ease the countries’ tense relationship.
Rice fields in the town of Ozu, Kumamoto Prefecture. The water-filled paddies glistening under the sun is a symbol of a long-running effort to preserve the prefecture’s groundwater.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Nov 17, 2024
Japan's chipmaking rush pressures Kumamoto's special water supply
TSMC and others hope that support for existing projects and proper wastewater management can avoid undermining water development efforts lauded by the U.N.
Japanese companies lack the agility needed for the digital transformation, a new report says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2024
Japan ranked 31st in digital competitiveness, 92nd for English skills
In the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, Japan was ranked 92nd, down from 87 the previous year. It was its worst showing yet.
In the past two weeks, developer DeNA has raked in over $50 million for the Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket app, a free-to-play game that charges for premium features.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 14, 2024
Gotta collect 'em all: New Pokemon trading card game becomes big hit
The novel yet nostalgic app has amassed over 30 million downloads worldwide in the first two weeks of its release.
Jensen Huang (left), co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, and Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, during a fireside chat at the Nvidia AI Summit Japan on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024
SoftBank plans first supercomputer with Nvidia Blackwell chips
Nvidia’s chips have become a prized commodity for the world’s biggest tech companies, which use the components to develop and run AI models.
SoftBank returned to the black in the three months to September, as it benefited from higher share prices of listed companies in its Vision Fund investment vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2024
SoftBank back to quarterly profit with ¥1.18 trillion gain
The tech giant benefited from higher share prices of listed companies in its Vision Fund investment vehicles.
Two Harvard University students have adapted the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and computer software to create spectacles utilizing existing face recognition technology to identify people in real time.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 12, 2024
Are face-scanning smart glasses a problem or prophecy?
A hack by two Harvard University students raises concern about the unforeseen risks of artificial intelligence and mixing of existing technologies.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s JASM plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Sept. 13
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 11, 2024
Japan unveils ¥10 trillion plan to aid domestic chip industry
The plan, which will provide the support by fiscal 2030, comes as countries look to strengthen control over their chip supply chains.
Dating apps like Bumble and Hinge, with their reliance on basic algorithms, often lead to superficial connections, but AI could improve this by analyzing deeper data for more meaningful matches.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2024
AI dating might actually not be so bad
While still in development, these AI-driven match-making tools aim to reduce the fatigue of online dating and foster more genuine connections.
Elon Musk during a campaign event at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 27
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2024
Silicon Valley’s Trump supporters envision ascendant startups and Vance 2028
The surge of GOP support and contributions set records in the largely left-leaning tech industry, splintering once-clubby relationships.
A person visits TSMC Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on May 29.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 10, 2024
U.S. ordered TSMC to halt shipments to China of chips used in AI applications, source says
The order comes just weeks after TSMC reported that one of its chips had been found in a Huawei AI processor.
NAND flash memory maker Kioxia plans to use a new method for listing in Japan that would fast-track its oft-delayed initial public offering. Both the price and size of the stake to be floated were undecided, according to a filing Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 9, 2024
Kioxia files for long-delayed IPO as Samsung’s lead grows
The NAND flash memory maker plans to debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange between this December and June next year.
The disparity in adoption of artificial intelligence will cause uneven economic growth, with AI-driven sectors becoming cheaper and more efficient while AI-resistant sectors may slow overall economic progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2024
AI’s effect on the U.S. economy will be wildly uneven
Businesses vulnerable to competition will face heavy pressure to adopt the new technology, but in government and education, adoption will be slower.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during the launch of the supercomputer Gefion in Kastrup, Denmark, on Oct. 23. Nvidia's recent strength has come as the company calmed investor concerns about issues involving its Blackwell chip, which was delayed due to engineering snags, as well as its long-term growth prospects.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024
Nvidia rides AI wave to surpass Apple as world’s largest company
Its share price rose 2.9% to $139.93 on Tuesday, taking its market capitalization to $3.43 trillion, ahead of Apple's $3.38 trillion.
Japan controlled half or more of the global chips market through the 1980s but has less than a tenth of the market today.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024
Japan taps U.S. chip startup Tenstorrent to help train new wave of engineers
The contract is part of Japan's effort to reinvigorate its semiconductor industry.
The IFC One Saigon building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Nov. 30, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 4, 2024
U.S. tech firms issue warning over Vietnam's planned data law
The country is aiming to exponentially increase its data center industry with foreign investment in coming years.
People line up outside an Apple store in Beijing on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 4, 2024
Buffett keeps cutting Apple stake, with value down 60% this year
Berkshire cut its Apple holdings by roughly 25% in the period, after cutting it by almost half in the second quarter.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years