Tag - tech

 
 

TECH

Rapidus, which aims to produce next-generation chips domestically, is building a factory in Hokkaido.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024
Japanese banks gear up lending for chip-related industries
Lenders have set up specialized teams and are collaborating with regional rivals to aid sectors that might benefit from the emergence of chip factories.
Samsung workers chant slogans during a walkout outside the company’s semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024
Samsung union steps up pressure over pay with three-day strike
The union has spent weeks preparing for the walkout, after negotiations over pay and vacation time collapsed last month.
One analyst argues that the billions of dollars flowing from Japan to the likes of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft might be more a positive than a negative in that more companies and individuals are using digital services.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2024
Japan’s digital deficit might be a good thing
The digital deficit indicates that digitalization has accelerated in the country, says Mitsubishi Research Institute researcher Kengo Wataya.
Renesas Electronics CEO Hidetoshi Shibata
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Ex-banker behind chipmaker Renesas targets $100 billion value
Renesas’ push coincides with an aggressive campaign by Japan to turn the world’s fourth-largest economy into a chip powerhouse.
A demonstration of a clear-screen translation system is conducted at a counter at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2024
Clear-screen translation system is being tested at Tokyo's Haneda
The translation system is designed to rapidly provide information to foreign travelers and those with hearing difficulties.
The focus on artificial intelligence comes as the Self-Defense Forces grapple with concerns about recruitment and its abilities to harness the power of new technologies.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024
Japan’s Defense Ministry unveils first basic policy on use of AI
The new policy comes as Japan looks to stave off a manpower shortage and keep pace with China and the U.S. on the technology’s military applications.
Inside the TikTok office in Singapore in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2024
China’s AI startups head to Singapore in a bid for global growth
Singapore offers many Chinese artificial intelligence startup companies better access to global investors and customers than China does.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2024
Candidates turn to AI in Tokyo governor race
Experts warn that while social media give voters more insight into candidates, there are risks of information bias.
An employee works on a laptop next to a drone at SD Guthrie's Sungai Linau estate in Selangor, Malaysia, on June 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2024
Robots are stepping into one of Asia’s dirtiest farm jobs
With global stockpiles of palm oil set for the first back-to-back decline in more than 40 years, Malaysia is pushing for automation to boost production.
Sharp holds an annual general shareholders meeting at its headquarters in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024
Sharp vows to achieve profitability at annual meeting
Sharp will "engage in selection and concentration, and invest in unique products," the executive vice president said at a shareholder meeting in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks during the company's annual general meeting in Tokyo last Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024
SoftBank to back AI startup Perplexity at $3 billion valuation
SoftBank will invest between $10 million and $20 million in the firm, which aims to use AI to compete with Alphabet’s Google search.
Sports announcer Al Michaels during an event in 2015
OLYMPICS
Jun 27, 2024
NBC brings AI version of legendary broadcaster to Olympic coverage
Narration by Al Michaels generated using artificial intelligence will voice the recaps that will be personalized to individual viewers of NBC's Peacock streaming service.
Nvidia, the darling of the artificial intelligence boom, gained 6.8% on Tuesday, rebounding from a recent selloff that erased $430 billion of its market value.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 26, 2024
Ignore the ‘AI revolution’ at your own peril, investors warn
While a recent selloff in shares of chipmaker Nvidia may have fueled fears of an AI bubble, the correction is barely visible, some say.
Chipmaker Nvidia’s stellar growth to become the world’s most valuable company masks growing skepticism about AI’s usefulness as a general purpose tool.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2024
Nvidia’s explosive growth masks AI disillusionment
Businesses shouldn't believe tech companies' pitch that AI can solve all problems, everywhere, all at once. Figuring out its niche applications is the recipe for success.
LINE, the app at the center of a tug-of-war for control. Line was introduced in Japan in 2011 by Naver, the operator of South Korea’s leading search engine.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2024
Japan and South Korea are fighting over an app at a tense time
Leaders on both the Japanese and South Korean sides appear determined to prevent the quarrel over Line from escalating.
A screen tracks Nvidia's stock price movements as a trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 23, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024
Nvidia sales grow so fast that Wall Street can’t keep up
No one can figure out what the chipmaker’s revenues are actually going to be amid an artificial intelligence boom.
Sakana AI, prospected to become the fastest-ever Japanese company to achieve unicorn status, aims to create energy-efficient AI models that tackle long-term national-level issues.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2024
What a Japanese AI unicorn can teach Silicon Valley
Sakana AI, prospected to become the fastest-ever Japanese company to achieve unicorn status, is taking a long-term approach to the development of AI for good.
Israelis protest for the release of hostages held in Gaza and against the government in Tel Aviv on June 1.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024
Israel tech leaders, irked by Netanyahu, eye moves into politics
The war against Hamas is straining Israel's economy, with the central bank projecting costs of around $67 billion through 2025, nearly 15% of the annual GDP.
Amid AI chip juggernaut Nvidia's staggering successes, startups seeking the attention of Silicon Valley venture capitalists are being asked to innovate — but without a clear indication of where the next chapter of AI will be written.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jun 23, 2024
Beyond Nvidia: the search for AI's next breakthrough
Startups are being asked to innovate — but without a clear indication of where the next chapter of AI will be written.
Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during the annual general shareholders' meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 21, 2024
SoftBank’s Son aims to create ‘super’ AI in new investment drive
He envisions a future when Arm Holdings chips support an ecosystem of technology that can collectively cure cancer, clean houses and play with children.

Longform

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