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July 10, 2026
 

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Rachel Metz
Elon Musk arrives at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building for court in Oakland, California on April 30.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 19, 2026
Elon Musk loses case against Sam Altman over OpenAI’s overhaul
The Tesla CEO had claimed that Altman’s leadership betrayed OpenAI’s mission to benefit the public by morphing into a for-profit business.
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by several former employees of OpenAI.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 21, 2026
Amazon to invest an additional $5 billion in Anthropic
Amazon said it would provide Anthropic with chips — for general computing and AI accelerators — to reach about 5 gigawatts of power.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is focusing its efforts on AI agents and a new artificial intelligence model called Spud, as it moves to discontinue its Sora AI video generator.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 25, 2026
OpenAI discontinues support for Sora and winds down Disney deal
In a note to staff about the changes, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is focusing its efforts on AI agents and a new artificial intelligence model called Spud.
OpenAI has announced changes to make ChatGPT better at recognizing and responding to different ways that people may express mental distress.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 12, 2025
OpenAI and Microsoft sued over murder-suicide blamed on ChatGPT
The case is the first to blame OpenAI for a homicide.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends a talk session with SoftBank group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son in Tokyo on February 3.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 6, 2025
OpenAI releases two ‘open’ AI models after DeepSeek’s success
The release is a new business strategy for the ChatGPT developer and allows users to customize and run AI systems themselves.
Alexandr Wang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Scale AI, has emerged as an influential force in the artificial intelligence industry. His company's army of contractors label the data that tech firms use to train and improve their AI models.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 9, 2025
Meta set to throw billions at startup that leads AI data market
Scale AI uses an army of contractors to label the data that tech firms use to train and improve their AI models
San Francisco-based OpenAI sees the new studies as a way to get a better sense of how people interact with, and are affected by, its popular chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 22, 2025
OpenAI study finds links between ChatGPT use and loneliness
Those who spent more time typing or speaking with ChatGPT each day tended to report higher levels of emotional dependence on the chatbot.
Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as $25 billion in OpenAI.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2025
SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI
SoftBank has already committed $15 billion to Project Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI to build data centers and other AI infrastructure.
Rapid improvements in image generation have spurred artists to push back on generative AI startups, which ingest vast troves of internet data in order to generate content like pictures or text.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 6, 2023
Dall-E 3 is so good it’s stoking a revolt against AI scraping
It hasn’t helped much that OpenAI’s new process for artists who want to exclude their data from the system is time-consuming and complex.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 13, 2023
Elon Musk launches new company xAI to ‘understand the universe’
The billionaire has hinted for months that he wants to build an alternative to the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 15, 2023
ChatGPT creator OpenAI debuts new GPT-4 AI system
The startup said the new version of the technology, which will be available to paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers, is more accurate, creative and collaborative.
LIFE / Digital
Jun 9, 2010
New iPhone features extra camera, HD video
SAN FRANCISCO — T he next iPhone comes out June 24 and will have a higher-resolution screen, longer battery life and thinner design.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
Wakatakakage injury casts pall over July meet, but potential new stars loom
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in August 2024.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world’s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka’s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo’s in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Global Liveability Index.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI
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