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August 15, 2024
 

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TECH

A wafer on display at the Semicon China expo in Shanghai on March 20
BUSINESS
May 28, 2024
China creates $47.5 billion chip fund to fuel self-resilience
The largest shareholder is China’s Ministry of Finance.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) at a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, on April 22
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2024
Amazon in talks with Italy to invest billions of euros in cloud plan, sources say
AWS launched its first cloud region in Italy in 2020 as part of a plan to invest €2 billion ($2.2 billion) by 2029.
Transmission towers in Vinh Trach Dong Commune, Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam, on April 26. Southeast Asia’s relatively low production cost and strong position in the global semiconductor value chain is adding to the region’s appeal as the next hub for data centers.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 28, 2024
AI frenzy draws stock traders to Southeast Asia’s likely winners
Power producers are becoming a favorite as more data centers are set up in the region, thanks to lower energy and land costs, according to analysts.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. While some view artificial intelligence’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics of such arrangements.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024
OpenAI is making journalism an offer it can’t refuse
While some view AI’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics and transparency of such arrangements.
Mitsubishi Electric's TOKUI Fast Accurate Synchronized Motion Testing Robot solves a Rubik's Cube
JAPAN
May 27, 2024
Japanese robot solves Rubik's Cube in record time
Guinness World Records recognized the 0.305-second time achieved by Mitsubishi Electric's machine as a new world best, beating the previous record of 0.38 seconds.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has pledged to build three advanced plants in the U.S. state of Arizona with total investments exceeding $65 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2024
TSMC’s foreign investments are good for Taiwan, official says
TSMC is the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, with Apple and Nvidia relying on it for their most important products.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024
What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?
This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
Science and technology policy minister Sanae Takaichi (center) speaks at a meeting of the government's AI Strategy Council on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 23, 2024
Japan to discuss AI regulations as early as summer
The government's AI Strategy Council will discuss the introduction of legislation that will work alongside guidelines drawn up in April for AI business operators.
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith delivers a speech at the French Microsoft headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris, on May 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2024
Microsoft’s UAE deal could move U.S. chips and AI technology abroad
The sales accord could progress to a second phase that entails the export of crucial components of AI technology such as model weights, Microsoft's president said.
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address on the latest innovations in AI, during a developers conference at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, on March 18. Nvidia on Wednesday issued a second-quarter revenue forecast of about $28 billion, topping the $26.8 billion predicted by analysts.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2024
Nvidia delivers on AI hype, igniting $140 billion stock rally
Its shares rose as much as 7.8% in extended trading on Wednesday, taking them above $1,000 for the first time.
Artificial-intelligence-related talks in Geneva between China and the U.S. yielded no concrete agreements, but the conversations set the stage for continued engagement on safety and risks related to the technology.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024
Seven hours in Geneva hotel highlight U.S.-China struggle on AI
Officials from the U.S. and China stressed in the meeting at the hotel a shared desire to prevent nightmare scenarios like a computer-triggered nuclear war.
In trying to govern AI, the U.N. and other institutions need an approach as dynamic, innovative and creative as the pursuit of the technology itself.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2024
We need effective governance to shape AI for good
How can we govern AI so that it serves the interests of humanity? Three key principles can guide the way for the U.N. and other actors undertaking this daunting challenge.
The main targets of a new bill on smartphone software are the app stores provided by Google and Apple, as consumers effectively have only two choices for smartphone operating systems: Apple's iOS or Google’s Android.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2024
Japan aims to curb Apple and Google's smartphone app duopoly
A new bill would compel dominant platforms to allow third parties to launch their own app markets and to offer more payment options.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the virtual AI Seoul Summit hosted jointly by South Korea and Britain, in Seoul.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2024
Second global AI summit secures safety commitments from companies
Sixteen companies at the forefront of developing artificial intelligence pledged on Tuesday at a global meeting to develop the technology safely.
A lithography system made by ASML at an Intel facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, on April 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 21, 2024
ASML and TSMC can disable chip machines if China invades Taiwan
Sources said the chipmakers have ways to shut-off the world’s most sophisticated chipmaking machines in the event of an attack.
At the factory of 4R Energy Corp. in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, a lithium-ion electric vehicle battery is disassembled to be reused. Batteries and EVs are among the strategic industries governments around the world aim to support through their industrial policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 20, 2024
Grasping industrial policy in the age of economic security
A new era of industrial policies is structured around three P's: promoting strategic industries, protecting emerging technologies and partnering with like-minded countries.
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the U.K. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes, Britain, on Nov. 2, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2024
South Korea and U.K. to host second global AI summit as boom fans risks
The breathtaking pace of innovation since the first AI summit in November leaves governments scrambling to keep up with a growing array of risks.
Japan's digital trade deficit in 2023 was up about 2.6 times over nine years since 2014, as smartphones have become ubiquitous tools and the digital services sector is dominated by U.S. information technology giants.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 20, 2024
Japan's digital trade deficit continues to expand
The deficit in Japan's balance of payments in digital services continues to expand steadily.
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido, in December
BUSINESS
May 19, 2024
Government to consider more aid to Rapidus, industry minister says
Rapidus plans to start operating a prototype production line at the Chitose plant in April 2025 and launch mass production in 2027.
U.S. President Joe Biden signs orders that increase tariffs on China during an event at the White House on Tuesday. The escalating trade tensions risk slowing the transition to green technologies by boosting production costs.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2024
Looming U.S.-China 'trade war' bodes ill for green tech
China has denounced the new U.S. tariffs as bullying and warned of potential retaliation, arguing that they could harm global green economic transition efforts.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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