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July 01, 2026
 

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AI

Gwanghwamun Square, the venue of BTS’ comeback concert, in Seoul on March 21. Seoul-based startup Galaxy is trying to disrupt K-pop’s traditional idol system — a model built on years of recruiting, training and managing human performers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2026
AI K-Pop startup Galaxy aims for IPO in Seoul and New York
The goal of the company, which is preparing for what could be the first overseas listing by a K-pop agency, is to create content without the constraint of human performers.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The government has submitted a bill to the Lower House to introduce fines for serious violations of the personal information protection law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 8, 2026
Japan to fine repeat violators of personal info law
The government hopes the move will have a deterrent effect by making clear to businesses that violations could incur economic penalties.
Participants line up to install OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent, outside the Baidu offices in Beijing on March 17.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2026
There’s method to China’s OpenClaw madness
It arrived at exactly the right moment for China’s AI sector. After months of brutal price wars, it gave model builders a reason to charge more for tokens.
The Deepseek chatbot interface is displayed on a smartphone in Shanghai in January. The practice of artificial intelligence distillation first drew significant scrutiny in 2025 after DeepSeek released its R1 reasoning model. The release prompted Microsoft and OpenAI to investigate whether the Chinese startup had improperly exfiltrated large amounts of data from the U.S. firms' models to create R1.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 7, 2026
OpenAI, Anthropic and Google cooperate to fend off Chinese bids to clone models
The U.S. firms are concerned some users are creating imitation versions of their products that could undercut them on price and siphon away customers.
The path toward sustainable AI lies in combining quantum computing with energy-efficient application design.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2026
Quantum computing could fix AI’s sustainability problem
Training Grok-4 alone reportedly required 310 gigawatt-hours of electricity — enough to power a town of 4,000.
The rise of personality-driven leadership in business and politics, exemplified by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, is undermining organizational stability and increasing systemic risk.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2026
America’s big personalities are shrinking its greatness
A new generation wearied of managerialism, partly because memories of the bad old days faded and partly because managerialism, like all regimes, became self-indulgent.
Subhabrata Debnath, co-founder of NeuralGarage, an AI startup, shows a demonstration of AI-generated dubbing on his computer at the company's office in Bengaluru last August.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 4, 2026
AI is rewiring the world’s most prolific film industry
India produces the most movies of any country, but shifting audience habits are squeezing production budgets and studios are responding by tapping AI.
Shunichi Koshimura, director of Tohoku University's International Research Institute of Disaster Science, speaks during a news conference in Sendai on Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2026
Tohoku University and SoftBank to develop disaster prevention AI tech
The joint project aims to use generative artificial intelligence to pass on memories and lessons from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Microsoft, whose Copilot has struggled to keep pace with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, said it will invest in cybersecurity partnerships and train a million artificial intelligence engineers through 2029.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2026
Microsoft drafts $10 billion investment plan in AI-hungry Japan
Microsoft is battling Amazon.com and Alphabet for dominance in Japan, which is spending billions to develop an artificial intelligence ecosystem and catch up to the U.S. and China.
More than 200 children’s specialists, advocacy groups and schools sent a letter raising concerns about what they view as a lack of substance in AI-generated YouTube videos.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 2, 2026
Google faces calls to prohibit AI videos for kids on YouTube
More than 200 children’s specialists, advocacy groups and schools sent a letter raising concerns about what they view as a lack of substance in AI-generated YouTube videos.
Spools of electrical wires outside a series of assembly tents at the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 2, 2026
America’s AI build-out hinges on Chinese electrical parts
The boom in AI infrastructure is colliding with a shortage of transformers and other electrical components needed to power massive data centers.
The information distribution platform law, enforced in April last year, requires social media platform operators to take measures to deal with defamation and problems linked to generative artificial intelligence.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2026
Social media platforms differ in transparency on defamation and AI issues
A survey made the findings a year after the enforcement of the information distribution platform law, aimed at tackling the spread of illegal and harmful online content.
AI translation and algorithm changes on X unexpectedly connected American and Japanese users through shared content, highlighting the social media platform’s promise of cross-cultural exchange.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2026
Japanese X is now America’s favorite corner of the internet
Japanese Twitter has been insulated from the culture wars and manipulation by foreign bots, one reason political discourse remains reasonably sane.
Despite repeated technological upheavals, finance has preserved its profits by reinventing fee-generating services. But the rise of AI could ultimately render much of the industry irrelevant.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2026
AI threatens the finance industry’s perpetual profit machine
The utopian promise of AI is abundance, but the only guaranteed beneficiaries are the super elites that own the machines.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during BlackRock’s 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington on March 11.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 1, 2026
OpenAI valued at $852 billion after completing $122 billion round
The bulk of the financing, which had been in the works for months, came from three large tech companies.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi exchange bows during a news conference following their summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 31, 2026
At Japan-Indonesia summit, energy security takes center stage amid war in Middle East
The two Asian nations’ leaders on Tuesday pledged to coordinate closely on this issue, as oil and gas prices soar due to the ongoing war.
When downloaded, OpenClaw can be connected to existing AI models and given simple instructions through instant messaging apps.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 31, 2026
OpenClaw creator visits Tokyo to pitch AI agents that organize your life
The artificial intelligence agent tool has taken the tech world by storm with its ability to execute real-life tasks and connect with existing AI models.
While hybrid intelligence via brain-computer interfaces may one day be possible, experts warn that for healthy adults — or children who cannot consent — the risks likely outweigh the benefits.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2026
Boosting your brain with a chip carries a price
While hybrid intelligence via brain-computer interfaces may one day be possible, experts warn that for healthy adults and children, the risks likely outweigh the benefits.
An Australian man’s monthslong quest to fight his rescue mutt Rosie’s cancer using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has grabbed the attention of OpenAI boss Sam Altman.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 30, 2026
One man, his dog, and ChatGPT: Australia’s AI vaccine saga
Australian Paul Conyngham used artificial intelligence to design a personalized experimental treatment for his sick dog and find top scientists to administer it.
Texas State Rep. James Talarico, who won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the Texas primary election, greets supporters after speaking at his victory party in Austin, Texas, on March 4.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2026
AI deepfakes blur reality in 2026 U.S. midterm campaigns
Politics experts worry such videos could leave voters confused, or even deceived.
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.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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