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June 30, 2026
 

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AI

Components for Murata's Echorb Wonder Stone device. The company is the world’s leading supplier of multilayer ceramic capacitors, essential components for every device that uses electricity because they regulate power flow.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2026
Murata beats profit estimates as AI data-center demand strains production
The company says it is struggling to catch up with runaway demand for its multilayer ceramic capacitors, sought by U.S. hyperscalers for artificial intelligence data centers.
A Walker S2 humanoid robot demonstrates its skills at the UBTech Robotics headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on April 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
U.S. adopts China’s playbook on tech and security
U.S. thinking is only catching up with that of China, which has long considered technology essential to the country’s sovereignty and survival.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is driving a plan to establish a standalone artificial intelligence robotics and data center company in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2026
SoftBank to create and list AI firm Roze in U.S.
The investment firm aims to create and float such a vehicle as soon as this year, though the timing on that could slip to 2027, people familiar with the matter said.
In Japan, where AI companion robots are being introduced in nursing homes to cope with a growing caregiver shortage, their use underscores both the urgency of the global aging crisis and the danger of placing too much reliance in technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
AI is coming for our aging parents, ready or not
Japan, long a leader in industrial automation, has been trying to make eldercare robots happen for a long time.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 29, 2026
China-U.S. tensions build over Iran and AI before Trump meets Xi
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are headed toward a summit next month with a shared desire to stabilize ties. That calm is being tested as both leaders rush to shore up strategic vulnerabilities over Iranian oil and AI.
Applied Materials, which has significant business supplying China, is among those believed to ​have received a letter from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 29, 2026
U.S. orders chip equipment companies to halt some shipments to China’s Hua Hong
The move is the latest U.S. action to slow China’s development of advanced chips, two people familiar with the matter said.
The Samsung dynasty’s wealth doubled to $45 billion in just one year, making them Asia's third-richest family.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Samsung dynasty’s wealth doubles to $45 billion in just one year
Faced with crisis, speculation grew that the family might lose control of the conglomerate. Instead, they made a massive financial comeback.
The Google logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, on March 24. A reported agreement between Google and the U.S. Department of Defense requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government's request.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Google inks deal allowing Pentagon to use AI models for classified work
A reported agreement requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government’s request.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (second from right) speaks at the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Monday at the Prime Minister’s Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2026
Key government panel calls for boost to long-term public works investment
Members of the panel, chaired by Takaichi, discussed reforms to build a sustainable regional economy amid aging social infrastructure.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations are displayed at the Korea Exchange in Seoul on March 4.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 28, 2026
South Korea passes U.K. to become world’s eighth-largest stock market
The total market capitalization of Korean-listed companies has surged more than 45% this year to $4.04 trillion, while the U.K.’s has climbed about 3% to $3.99 trillion.
The Manus decision comes just weeks before China’s Xi Jinping and the U.S. president are scheduled to meet at a high-profile summit.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Xi tests China’s reach by blocking already-done Meta deal
The country’s powerful state planner decreed Monday that the deal must be canceled — four months after it was sealed.
People wait to enter the U.S. District Courthouse in Oakland, California, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Elon Musk trial against Sam Altman to reveal OpenAI power struggle
The bitter legal fight may come down to a few pages in one executive’s personal diary.
A stock ticker displays market information inside the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 20. Indonesia, along with India and the Philippines, has seen strained trade balances and tumbling stocks as a result of higher oil prices.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2026
AI boom drowns out war fears to fuel Asia’s great market divide
Investors are punishing economies exposed to higher energy costs while looking past near-term risks to gain exposure to industries seen as critical to future growth.
Sembcorp employees stand on a patch of disused land earmarked as a future site for a data center on the Wilton International site near Middlesbrough, England, on March 27. The utilities company has been serving petrochemical customers for decades but the decline of the industry has now left it with spare land — and power.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2026
Data-center builders eyeing AI gold rush waiting years for U.K. grid connections
High demand has pushed out wait times to between 12 and 15 years, driving up prices for land with power generation or an existing high-power grid connection.
AI-driven job disruption fears are rising, but a stable labor market and limits on technology adoption are likely to delay widespread job losses in the near term.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2026
The AI job apocalypse is being delayed
Job losses due to technological disruption tend to come in recessionary bursts rather than in a linear fashion.
A Justice Ministry panel discusses how the voices of individuals should be protected under publicity and portrait rights, amid a rise in the unauthorized use of celebrities' voices by generative artificial intelligence, at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2026
Japan to protect celebrity voices against AI use
The Justice Ministry is set to compile guidelines on the scope and standards for illegal acts under current law by this summer.
DeepSeek has unveiled preview versions of a long-awaited new flagship model called V4, which costs less than many alternatives to use but doesn’t meaningfully narrow the U.S. lead in AI capabilities.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 25, 2026
DeepSeek’s long-awaited new model fails to narrow U.S. lead in AI
DeepSeek unveiled the V4 Flash and V4 Pro series on Friday, touting top-tier performance in coding benchmarks and big advancements in reasoning and agentic tasks.
Andon Market in San Francisco represents a vision, however flawed, of a future when more sophisticated AI agents take over work traditionally done by humans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 24, 2026
An AI agent takes over a store and orders too many candles
The San Francisco shop represents a vision, however flawed, of a future when more sophisticated AI agents take over work traditionally done by humans.
Softbank Corp. CEO and President Junichi Miyakawa
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2026
SoftBank prepares to manufacture batteries for AI data centers
The Tokyo-based group is one of the world’s foremost supporters of AI, having committed hundreds of billions of dollars to investment in data centers, cloud services and startups.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and the head of OpenAI, Sam Altman, attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in February 2025.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 23, 2026
SoftBank is going all in on OpenAI, but at what cost?
SoftBank Group’s founder Masayoshi Son invested in OpenAI despite potential exposure to a liquidity crunch.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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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