Tag - tech

 
 

TECH

The industry ministry plans to provide aid of up to ¥70.5 billion to auto parts maker Denso and Fuji Electric for the joint production of power semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
Denso and Fuji Electric to get government aid for power chips
Although Japanese companies have a large share of the global power semiconductor market, production volume per maker is smaller compared with European and U.S. peers.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took a 15% stake in WealthNavi earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
MUFG considering bid for Japanese robo-adviser WealthNavi
MUFG took a 15% stake in WealthNavi earlier this year
Students look at their phones in Melbourne on Thursday as Australia looks to ban children under 16 from social media.
WORLD
Nov 29, 2024
What countries do to regulate children's social media access
Here is what Australia, European countries, and tech companies have been doing to regulate children's access to social media.
From late 2025, platforms including Meta's Instagram, Elon Musk's X, TikTok and Snapchat must show Australians they are taking reasonable steps to keep out users under 16 or face fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million).
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2024
Australia looks for ways to enforce its teen social media ban
From late 2025, social media platforms including Instagram, X, TikTok and Snapchat must show Australians they are taking reasonable steps to keep out users under 16.
The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 29, 2024
Australia passes social media ban for children under 16
The law forces tech giants to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.
A statue of Konosuke Matsushita in the grounds of the Konosuke Matsushita Museum in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
‘God of management’ comes back to life as an AI model
Panasonic icon Konosuke Matsushita is one of the most respected by the Japanese business community.
SoftBank Group will make a tender offer allowing OpenAI employees to cash in shares if they choose.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
SoftBank seeks to buy $1.5 billion OpenAI shares from employees
SoftBank will make a tender offer for the stock, allowing OpenAI employees to cash in shares if they choose.
A wafer on display at the Semicon China expo in Shanghai on March 20
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024
U.S. readies China chip curbs that stop short of earlier proposals
American chip equipment makers have warned that tougher measures would bring catastrophic harm to their business.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is examining allegations that Microsoft is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2024
Microsoft faces wide-ranging U.S. antitrust probe
The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon warehouse
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan investigating Amazon for allegedly bullying other businesses
Tactics allegedly employed by the retailer involve the squeezing of business partners in exchange for visibility.
Scale is becoming important even for distributors like Macnica Holdings, which sells chips made by the likes of Intel’s Altera.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan’s top chip distributor eyes acquisitions in China and India
Macnica Holdings is eyeing an overseas acquisition to better hold its own against bigger competitors.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March last year. Europe’s defense industry sees “very significant potential” to further deepen cooperation with Japanese firms in areas ranging from space tech to advanced electronics and unmanned weapons systems, a key lobbying group has said.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2024
European defense industry sees ‘significant potential’ to work with Japan
The remarks by industry officials come after Tokyo and Brussels launched a new security and defense partnership earlier this month.
Wall Street is rotating out of the chip sector, put off by stretched valuations and trade war-related risks under Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2024
Software is in, chips are out as traders position for Trump era
Software has been on an upswing given its lower exposure to tariff risks, and as the tailwind from AI looks set to shift from infrastructure to services.
A Facebook "military interest" page that misrepresented old photos and videos of army operations to falsely claim that Washington was helping its ally Manila prepare for war.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024
Philippines-China tensions trigger money-making disinformation
Clashes between the two countries in the South China Sea are being manipulated online by disinformation networks for profit, an analysis has found.
Amazon Japan allegedly pressured sellers to lower prices of their products in exchange for advantageous placement on their “Buy Box” system, which highlights one seller’s product as the preferred choice on a product page.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 26, 2024
Antitrust watchdog raids Amazon Japan over alleged price-fixing
The investigation is focused on potential breaches of antitrust laws, including abuse of a superior bargaining position and restrictive trading practices.
The tech giants behind Google and Facebook are asking the Australian government to postpone a ban on most forms of social media for children under the age of 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Google and Meta urge Australia to delay bill on social media ban for children
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left government wants to pass the bill into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.
The Google campus in Mountain View, California, on May 2
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Google arguments draw skepticism from judge in ad tech case
The case is one of several against Google over antitrust issues.
Zoom Video Communications has failed to impress investors with its latest sales forecast, who were expecting a bigger boost from the company’s expanded suite of products. An ongoing loss of consumers and small businesses from Zoom has also concerned investors, particularly since these customers are typically higher-margin than corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Zoom fails to impress investors with sales forecast for expanded lineup
While Zoom’s outlook met estimates, the stock had gained about 48% since the company’s last earnings report in August on optimism about the new products.
An IBM research facility in Albany, New York. Despite some continuity between the first Trump administration and Biden's policies on critical and emerging technologies, the outgoing president placed more emphasis on cooperation with allies.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 26, 2024
Will Trump change course on critical and emerging tech?
Washington's policies to protect key tech fields have not just hurt China, but U.S. allies too, leading to a form of cooperation with friction whose future is uncertain.
Mercari signage at the company's office in Tokyo in September 2020.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Mercari to enhance item verification process to check frauds
The company has been criticized on social media for not responding appropriately to sellers' complaints that different items from what they sold were returned by buyers.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan