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July 10, 2026
 

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AI

Cabinets housing servers inside a data hall at a NextDC data center in Sydney. The company partnered with OpenAI last December to build a large-scale computing cluster in Sydney.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 9, 2026
Australia’s AI boom may revive productivity, CBA says
Australia’s productivity performance ranks among the weakest in the developed world, yet it is drawing artificial intelligence investment away from other global contenders.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman addresses an election rally ahead of the country's general election in Dhaka on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 9, 2026
‘Flood’ of disinformation ahead of Bangladesh election
Analysts warn voters’ choices are threatened by a coordinated surge of online manipulation, much of which originates from neighboring India.
World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill speaks during an interview in Washington on Feb. 3.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2026
World Bank economist seeks cooperation from Japan on AI
Some worry that differences in the pace of AI adoption could further widen the gap between advanced economies and low-income countries.
Residential towers beyond the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System Link under construction in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Sept. 23, 2024. The state of Johor where Johor Bahru is located is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing data center hub.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 8, 2026
Malaysia draws first data center protest over pollution and water
The country is emblematic of growing social unease with data centers worldwide, despite their crucial role in powering the internet and ChatGPT searches.
Anthropic is going on the offensive against rival OpenAI by spending millions on commercials during Sunday night's National Football League championship game to criticize the latter's plan to sell ads on its ChatGPT chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 8, 2026
Anthropic buys Super Bowl ads to slap OpenAI for selling ads in ChatGPT
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called the Anthropic ad “deceptive” in a post on social media platform X.
The collapse of the old global order makes defending failed institutions futile, and AI governance offers a chance to rebuild effective, inclusive international cooperation for a multipolar world.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2026
New world order or bust in the age of artificial intelligence
AI governance is the opportunity to build something new and workable out of the ashes of failure.
Some AI-generated content is easy to spot as fake and is marked as such, but others are convincing enough that anyone scrolling through social media could easily be misled.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 7, 2026
In Japan, generative AI takes fake election news to new levels
Leaders of a new Japanese political party unveil a logo that features China, a candidate campaigns in freezing weather wearing tank tops and grannies vent in public — or do they?
Fumitaka Nakahama, head of global corporate and investment banking at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2026
MUFG eyes piece of AI boom with hiring for data center financing
Financing AI initiatives is becoming a lucrative business for banks worldwide.
Yutaka Matsuo, professor of the University of Tokyo's graduate school of engineering, has been named among 40 experts to sit on a U.N. panel on AI.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2026
University of Tokyo professor recommended for U.N. panel on AI
The panel will carry out scientific assessments covering opportunities and risks associated with AI.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s plant in Kumamoto Prefecture. The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia and Apple has decided to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fabrication plant in the prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2026
TSMC plans major upgrade of Japan chip plant in win for Takaichi
The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia and Apple has decided to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fabrication plant in Kumamoto.
Team Mirai leader Takahiro Anno stumps in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Jan. 27, the first day of campaigning for the Lower House election slated for Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 4, 2026
Team Mirai could overtake more established parties in Lower House
The 9-month-old party could win up to 10 seats, more than the Japanese Communist Party’s nine and Reiwa Shinsengumi’s six, according to a weekend poll.
Leonardo Doin, head of engineering and research for DeepL Voice, in Berlin on Jan. 23
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2026
DeepL to release AI-powered interpretation software in Japan this year
The software will integrate speech recognition and machine translation technologies as well as speech synthesis that mimics the tone of speakers’ voices, a company official said.
Elon Musk attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2026
Paris cybercrime unit searches X office; Musk summoned
The development comes amid growing scrutiny of the platform by authorities across Europe.
A photorealistic image generated by the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok of a journalist is shown on a phone’s screen on Jan. 22
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 3, 2026
Despite new curbs, Elon Musk’s Grok at times produces sexualized images
Elon Musk’s flagship artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, continues to generate sexualized images of people even when users explicitly warn that the subjects do not consent.
A monitor showing the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, which hit a record closing high, in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 3, 2026
Nikkei reaches new high as earnings help fuel rebound
The Nikkei rebounded from Monday’s drop to rise 3.9%, closing at a record 54,720.66, with tech-related firms like TDK and Kyocera among the top gainers.
Nintendo's Switch 2 became the world's fastest-selling gaming console after launching to a fan frenzy last summer.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2026
Switch 2 sales boost Nintendo profits, but chip shortage looms
In April-December, net profit rose 51.3% year-on-year to ¥358.9 billion, Nintendo said, but a global memory chip shortage could drive up manufacturing costs.
A SpaceX Starship lifts off during its fifth flight test, in Boca Chica, Texas, on Oct. 13, 2024. Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence startup, xAI.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 3, 2026
SpaceX acquires xAI in record deal as Musk looks to unify AI and space ambitions
The transaction values SpaceX at $1 trillion, and xAI at $250 billion.
A man walks past an advertisement in Hong Kong in 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 2, 2026
China AI deals push Hong Kong listings to busiest start of the year
Initial public offerings fetched about $5 billion last month, the highest total for any January on record.
Backdropped by posters with images of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the two U.S. citizens recently shot and killed by federal immigration officers, a resident of Minneapolis mans a corner to keep an eye out for ICE agents near a school where some students were recently arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2026
‘Misrepresent reality’: AI-altered shooting image surfaces in U.S. Senate
The gaffe underscores how AI visuals are seeping into everyday discourse, sowing confusion and influencing political debate at the highest levels.
The DEEPX booth at the 2025 Korea Tech Festival in Seoul in December. South Korea has enacted a comprehensive national law called the AI Basic Act to build public trust in AI technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2026
A breakthrough law won’t kill Korea’s AI revolution
The rest of the world will be watching closely. The nation has also become a live demo of how quickly the technology can spread throughout the real economy.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI
Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

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