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February 22, 2025
 

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CHIPMAKERS

Microsoft's Majorana 1 quantum computing chip
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 20, 2025
New Microsoft chip signals quantum computers in 'years, not decades'
Quantum computing holds the promise of carrying out calculations that would take today's systems millions of years.
Resonac Holdings CEO Hidehito Takahashi
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
Resonac explores deal structures for possible JSR takeover
A deal would be a key step in the chemicals maker’s ambition to corner the Japanese artificial intelligence semiconductor materials market.
Newly manufactured cars ready for shipping. U.S. President Donald Trump said he is likely to impose new 25% tariffs on imported cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals in the coming months.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 19, 2025
Trump floats 25% tariffs on U.S. auto, drug and chip imports
The U.S. president has also threatened other streams of tariffs, all part of an effort to reconfigure the country's trading relationships across the globe.
Talks on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. taking a controlling stake in Intel's factories at the request of Trump administration officials are in very early stages, and the exact structure of a potential partnership hasn’t been established. But the intended result would have the world’s largest made-to-order chipmaker fully operating Intel’s U.S. semiconductor factories.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 15, 2025
TSMC considers running Intel’s U.S. factories after Trump team request
Trump officials raised the idea of a deal between the two companies in recent meetings with the Taiwanese chipmaker, and TSMC was receptive.
Washington plans to renegotiate some aspects of its CHIPS Act after assessing and changing current requirements, according to the sources.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025
Trump prepares to change U.S. CHIPS Act conditions, sources say
The extent of the possible changes, and how they would affect agreements already finalized, was not immediately clear.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025
Japan’s biggest IPO since SoftBank seeks to raise $3 billion
The deal would exceed last year’s blockbuster share debut of subway operator Tokyo Metro.
Semiconductor chips on a printed circuit board in in 2023. Chinese companies' dramatic increase in legacy chip production capacity in recent years has forced Taiwanese foundries to retreat or pursue more advanced and specialty processes.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2025
Taiwan's legacy chip sector contemplates future as China eats into share​
Strong funding support from Beijing and an embrace of lower margins have enabled Chinese foundries to undercut Taiwanese rivals on price.
The three megabank groups including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group posted record consolidated net profits in April-December 2024.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025
Japan firms to log record profits — driven by finance and AI biz
Leading the growth is the financial sector, buoyed by the return of positive interest rates to Japan thanks to the Bank of Japan's rate hikes
Rapidus, which is expected to begin pilot production of chips in April and achieve mass production in 2027, is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to revive its domestic semiconductor industry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2025
Cabinet approves bill to fund Rapidus semiconductor production
Rapidus is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to revive its domestic semiconductor industry.
Tokyo Electron, one of a handful of key chip gear-makers globally, revealed expansion plans after posting better-than-expected earnings.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2025
Tokyo Electron plans expansion despite AI spending doubts
The company, one of a handful of key chip gear-makers globally, revealed the expansion after posting better-than-expected earnings.
SoftBank Group is in talks to acquire Ampere Computing, according to sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025
SoftBank nears deal to acquire chip designer Ampere
SoftBank is discussing a deal that could value the Oracle-backed chip designer at about $6.5 billion, including debt.
Technicians at work in the clean room of a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Ibaraki Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 1, 2025
Japan plans to curb exports of chips and quantum-computing tech
The government is expanding its list of export-controlled items to include advanced chips, lithography equipment and cryocoolers needed for the manufacture of quantum computers.
China's DeepSeek artificial intelligence app. The app’s success has shown China’s potential to surprise with even bigger breakthroughs.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 29, 2025
DeepSeek shows China playbook for even bigger U.S. shock on chips
The question now is how exactly the Hangzhou-founded company pulled it off — and what it means for American efforts to stay ahead of China in the tech race.
A worker at a Kongo factory in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, carefully processes an aluminum plate using a forming press.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 28, 2025
Companies in Kyushu struggle to enter TSMC’s supply chain
One report shows that firms in the region make up less than 10% of Japanese companies doing business with TSMC or its unit in Japan.
Engineers with Chinese startup DeepSeek built a competitive AI model despite U.S. attempts to curtail China’s tech development, raising questions about the effectiveness of Washington’s trade curbs.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2025
DeepSeek’s AI model tests limits of U.S. restrictions on Nvidia chips
Powerful AI software from the Chinese startup indicates its engineers built a competitive model despite U.S. attempts to curtail Beijing's tech development with trade curbs.
Chinese startup DeepSeek launched a free AI assistant last week that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 28, 2025
DeepSeek sparks global AI selloff, with Nvidia losing around $593 billion
Chinese startup DeepSeek launched a free AI assistant that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services.
A street in Chitose, Hokkaido. Annual power demand for Hokkaido is expected to increase by 1.2% on average into fiscal 2034, according to a report from the Organization for Cross-Regional Coordination of Transmission Operators.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2025
Japan sees data center-driven power boom in Hokkaido
Annual power demand for Hokkaido is expected to increase by 1.2% on average into fiscal 2034, a report has said.
Most of the grant funding for U.S. President Joe Biden's ambitious Chips and Science Act has been awarded, and the initiative has spurred more than $400 billion in planned company investments. But much of the job remains unfinished — and broader upheaval in the chip industry will only add to the challenges.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2025
Biden’s chips team hands off $52 billion program to a skeptical Trump
Before the election, Donald Trump described the Chips Act as "so bad” and suggested tariffs would be a better solution.
Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
BUSINESS / Companies / Longform
Jan 17, 2025
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
The CEO and president of Rapidus says the chip venture in Hokkaido is key to Japan's fortunes.
SoftBank's Arm Holdings may be interested in taking over chip designer Ampere Computing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 14, 2025
SoftBank's chip designer Arm considers acquiring Ampere Computing
Oracle-backed Ampere makes processors for data center machinery using Arm’s technology.
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Record percentage of Japanese firms plan wage hikes, survey shows
Some 61.9% of over 11,000 surveyed companies intend to pledge pay increases as part of annual wage negotiations culminating in March, according to a survey by Teikoku Databank.
Japan’s inflation speeds up, keeping BOJ on rate hike path
A customer visits a store along the Togoshi Ginza shopping street in Tokyo on Jan. 23. Rising fresh food prices contributed to the acceleration in overall inflation in January, as vegetable prices, including cabbage, soared.
Victor Wembanyama expected to miss remainder of regular season with blood clot
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (right) is expected to miss the rest of the NBA season, the team announced on Thursday.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history
By Alex K.T. Martin

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