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Kyushu Kumamoto Plant, which received a platinum certification. | SUNTORY
ESG CONSORTIUM
Aug 8, 2023

Suntory replenishes a century of water stewardship

Born and raised in Naples, Oliviero Morelli joined MSC Cruises in 2004, and 11 years later became president of MSC Cruises Japan.
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet, speaks during an event in Mountain View, California, in May.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 30, 2023

Google to add AI models to its cloud platform

The company also touted its access to Nvidia’s H100 accelerators, a prized commodity during the AI frenzy.
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.
Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima (second from right) acknowledged that company founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually abused agency employees for decades during a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 9, 2023

What’s in a name? A lot of baggage and trauma, unfortunately.

Johnny and Associates' recognition of abuse is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to move forward.
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.
The sudden resignation of BP CEO Bernard Looney may mark a crossroads clean energy, as Looney was seen as pushing for a transition more aggressively than his industry peers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023

BP chief’s surprise exit leaves questions over green strategy

BP said Tuesday that the 53-year-old CEO was departing after failing to fully disclose to the company board past relationships with colleagues.
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.
Noriyuki Higashiyama (right) and Yoshihiko Inohara attend a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Oct 3, 2023

Unpacking the latest Johnny & Associates news conference

The flood of information released during the agency's latest news conference may have been difficult to grasp. Here's what you need to know.
A sign at a Johnny & Associates store in the city of Osaka is peeled off late Monday after the shop closed.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Oct 17, 2023

With new name for Johnny's, focus shifts to victim compensation

The talent agency will face challenges in identifying those eligible for compensation due to the sheer number of victims of abuse by Johnny Kitagawa.
Lukasz Krupski, a service technician for Tesla in Norway who says he was fired after expressing safety concerns, in Drammen, Norway, on Nov. 6
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2023

Man vs. Musk: A whistleblower creates headaches for Tesla

An employee who was fired after expressing safety concerns leaked personnel records and sensitive data about driver-assistance software.
Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, arrives for a bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum for all U.S. senators hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in September.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Nov 18, 2023

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's ouster followed debate with board

The CEO's firing came after disagreements with his board — in particular Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and the company’s chief scientist.
An official shot for this year’s lineup for NHK’s annual “Kohaku Uta Gassen.”
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 22, 2023

Things get warmer with Xi; Johnny’s get the cold shoulder

While Japan and China look to ease tensions, NHK makes things tense with a Johnny’s-less “Kohaku” announcement.
Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the X social media platform, pauses during an event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Nov. 2.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 25, 2023

X may lose up to $75 million in revenue as advertisers pull out

Scores of brands have pulled their ads after owner Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
Fans in Osaka take photos as the company formerly known as Johnny & Associates removes references to its founder. The agency announced its new name, Starto Entertainment, on Friday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 8, 2023

Johnny’s changes name to Starto Entertainment

The announcement signals a new chapter in the talent agency’s history as it scrubs references to its disgraced founder from its current structure.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 devices displayed in Los Angeles. Apple said on Dec. 18 it will stop selling some of its smartwatch models in the United States while it fights a patent battle over technology for detecting blood oxygen levels.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023

Apple plans rescue for $17 billion watch biz in face of U.S. ban

If the ban holds, Apple is working on a range of legal and technical options.
Erin Lim, CEO of baby products company Konny, in front of her company's new office in Seoul. Early starts and late finishes to workdays are routine in South Korea, a country notorious for its hard-driving corporate culture, but Erin Lim knew she wanted to do things differently at her business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 28, 2023

South Korean mother's office-free firm sparks hope amid birthrate woes

South Korea has some of the world's lowest birth rates, and despite government incentives many women choose not to become mothers.
Apple is entering its first major new product category since the company began selling smartwatches in 2015, and the Vision Pro may take years to catch on.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 22, 2024

Apple Vision Pro deliveries delayed to March in sign of early demand

The device is also sold out for Day 1 in-store pickup at many locations despite preorders having just begun on Friday ahead of its Feb. 2 rollout.
A worker at Nakamatsu Meat speaks to an Alexa-powered device at its factory in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, in November. At the factory, workers give production updates to Alexa, which then converts this into data that is compiled in the company's computer.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 11, 2024

Okinawa meat shop uses tech to improve efficiency and raise wages

Nakamatsu Meat's digitalization enabled it to cut its factory operating time and optimize raw material purchases.
A real estate sign advertises powered data center land for sale in Johnstown, Ohio, on March 23.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 29, 2024

Amazon bets $150 billion on data centers required for AI boom

In addition to meeting demand for corporate services, they will provide the massive computing power needed for an expected boom in generative AI.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on June 5, 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2024

Apple shifts focus from EV to home robotics as ‘next big thing’

Apple’s pursuit of the "next big thing” has been an obsession since the Steve Jobs era, but it’s hard to envision a product that could match the iPhone.
In an emergency move, Bob Iger returned to Disney in November 2022, just 11 months after retiring, to rescue the company from his hand-picked successor as CEO, Bob Chapek.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2024

Hunt for Disney CEO Bob Iger's successor kicks into high gear

Board members are seeking to reassure investors that they are taking the matter of succession seriously, having extended Iger's retirement date five times.
Tesla's troubles started in October when it warned that demand for EVs was starting to slow, but the full extent of that weakness only became apparent this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2024

Tesla’s value dips below $500 billion in blow to stock bulls

The electric vehicle maker's troubles started in October when it warned that demand for EVs was starting to slow.
A slogan reads "Accelerate Industrial Transformation With AI" at the Microsoft booth at the Hannover Messe 2024 trade fair in Hannover, Germany, on April 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Microsoft’s AI push imperils climate goal as carbon emissions jump

The company’s total planet-warming impact is about 30% higher today than it was in 2020.
Ilya Sutskever, then-chief scientist at OpenAI, at the company’s offices in San Francisco in March 2023. Sutskever recently left the firm. He had been on the company’s board and had voted to oust Sam Altman, the chief executive, last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024

OpenAI insiders warn of a ‘reckless’ race for dominance

Sources claim the firm has used hardball tactics to prevent workers from voicing their concerns about certain AI technology.
Tim Cook (left), chief executive officer of Apple; John Giannandrea (center), senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy at Apple; and Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024

Apple to ‘pay’ OpenAI for ChatGPT through distribution, not cash

The partnership is apparently not expected to generate meaningful revenue for either party — at least, not at the outset.
Nissan initially had an early-mover advantage when it launched the Leaf in 2010, the first electric vehicle by a major global manufacturer, but the company recently has been unable to leverage its EV edge.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2024

Nissan's global production cuts imperil CEO’s recovery plan

Nissan’s disappointing results only add to the challenges facing CEO Makoto Uchida.
The Intel Corporation logo at a temporary office during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in 2022
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 8, 2024

How spurning OpenAI set chip giant Intel behind in the AI marketplace

OpenAI went on to launch the groundbreaking ChatGPT in 2022 and is now reportedly valued at about $80 billion.
A tourist picks up an aloha shirt at the Samurai Aloha store at Narita Airport in June.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 12, 2024

Aloha shirts made from recycled kimono in Tohoku prove to be huge hit

The shirts, called Samurai Aloha, were launched in the hopes of helping the area recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Google is appealing an Aug. 5 ruling that it illegally monopolized the markets of online search and search text ads but the presiding judge has ordered the start of plans for the second phase of the case, which will involve the government’s proposals for restoring competition, including a possible breakup request.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2024

U.S. considers a rare antitrust move: breaking up Google

If the breakup plan proceeds, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Chrome web browser.
An Apple Store in New York on July 29
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2024

Developing new tabletop home device, Apple pushes ahead with robotics shift

The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which would offer a twist on products like Amazon’s Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms’s Portal.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?