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July 24, 2026
 

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Catherine Thorbecke
Liu Debing, chairman of Knowledge Atlas Technology, better known as Zhipu, attends the Chinese generative-AI startup's listing ceremony at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, Jan. 8.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2026
A China shock is shaking Silicon Valley
One thing has become clear: Open models from China now pose one of the biggest existential threats to the U.S. AI establishment.
A growing number of young consumers are turning to analog and single-purpose devices like cyberdecks and e-readers as a form of resistance to AI-first platforms and automated digital systems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2026
What is the hottest Gen-Z tech trend? Anti-AI
Many of the models now being hunted online were released before their new owners were born.
Artificial intelligence may reshape millions of jobs, but retraining alone is unlikely to protect workers from the economic and social disruptions that could follow.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2026
What if AI retraining is just a comforting lie?
The risk is that ¡°reskilling¡± becomes the excuse that makes mass unemployment politically palatable and, basically, the victim¡¯s fault.
Japan¡¯s cautious approach to AI could become a strength by letting the country learn from others¡¯ mistakes and apply the technology to real-world problems.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2026
Japan¡¯s an AI laggard. That could be its edge.
Japan can learn from the first-movers and skip to the impactful part of turning the technology into real economic infrastructure.
Tokyo, once ahead in tech before being overtaken by Silicon Valley, is now trying to reinvent itself as a global startup hub by leveraging its stability, AI potential and government-backed support for entrepreneurs.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 4, 2026
Silicon Valley made AI powerful. Tokyo wants to make it work
Japan is full of contradictions on AI. People here are the least fearful in the world of the technology, perhaps because a shrinking population and labor shortages.
DeepSeek¡¯s R1 breakthrough helped trigger a frenetic year in AI, but Alibaba¡¯s move toward proprietary models is now raising concerns that China¡¯s open-source shift may be slowing.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2026
Why Beijing can¡¯t quit ¡®open¡¯ AI
The shift away from open source may be driven by the need for companies to make money, but it¡¯s unlikely to happen all at once.
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.
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.
AI-generated video is now good enough to monetize, with China¡¯s Kuaishou showing how focused, paid tools can scale globally while amplifying deepfake and copyright risks.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2026
Chinese AI videos used to look fake. Now they look like money.
In China, AI video is doing something else that once looked unlikely: making money.
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.
A viral check-in app that alerts contacts if users fail to confirm they are alive has exposed rising loneliness, demographic anxiety and unmet eldercare needs, showing the next breakout tech hit may come from confronting social isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2026
Forget DeepSeek, dying alone is China¡¯s latest tech obsession
The interface is almost aggressively plain. Users, largely people living alone, tap to confirm they are still alive.
Commuters pass a billboard advertising AI employees at a London Underground station. As artificial intelligence spreads, many people are asking whether it will take their jobs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2026
Six unresolved AI questions heading into 2026
We were promised tools to cure disease and solve climate change, but 2025 mostly delivered AI slop and a spammier internet.
Artificial intelligence holds promise for preserving endangered languages, but without meaningful community involvement, speakers of indigenous and regional dialects risk further marginalization as their languages vanish from the digital world.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2025
Can AI save dying languages?
A report from Stanford¡¯s Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence earlier this year found that most major large-language models, or LLMs, underperform in non-English.
The Rapidus semiconductor foundry construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido Prefecture, in December 2023. The state-backed company is attempting a high-risk, high-cost leap into making the world¡¯s most advanced chips to revive the nation's tech industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 4, 2025
What TSMC and Shakespeare can teach Japan¡¯s Rapidus
If Rapidus pulls it off, though, this moonshot could rewrite the history of Japan¡¯s tech industry.
AI-powered photo-editing tools show immense potential for restoring and manipulating images for consumers and advertisers, but current limitations and the high risk of misuse highlight challenges for both technology and regulators.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2025
Photoshopping, not chatbots, might be AI¡¯s killer app
Enforcement across the world wide web remains an open question and rising mistrust of digital media could trigger stricter interventions elsewhere.
Japan must act quickly to protect anime creators through stronger labor rights, transparency and fair compensation as AI threatens to exploit the industry¡¯s creative work.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2025
Will artificial intelligence turn Japan¡¯s ¡®irreplaceable treasures¡¯ into slop?
AI¡¯s threat gives Japan a second chance to do right by the workers propping up the $21 billion industry.
Australia¡¯s plan to ban under-16s from using social media, including YouTube, has reignited debate over how best to protect kids online.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2025
Banning teens from YouTube won¡¯t keep them safe
Part of the reason YouTube¡¯s inclusion has struck such a nerve is because it¡¯s impossible to overstate how intertwined it has become with pop culture.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing faces serious threats from attempted trade secret theft and U.S. tariff uncertainty, but its technological dominance and strategic importance keep Taiwan¡¯s ¡°silicon shield¡± intact ¡ª for now.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2025
Espionage and tariffs can¡¯t tarnish TSMC¡¯s crown
It¡¯s been a long week for the world¡¯s largest chipmaker. But it¡¯s still selling the shovels during an AI gold rush.
A Magic Bot Z1 by Magiclab is displayed at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference at the Shanghai World Expo and Convention Center on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2025
China¡¯s AI strategy relies on frenzy and frenemies
China¡¯s current AI frenzy represents the best and worst of classic capitalism: The competition propels innovation at a rapid clip, but not all of the companies will survive.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and his OpenAI counterpart, Sam Altman, attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in early February. The SoftBank founder is now proposing his most ambitious venture yet ¡ª a $1 trillion AI and robotics hub in Arizona.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2025
The magical thinking of Masa Son
The race to lead the world in AI-enabled robots is still in the early stages, but many signs point to China coming out on top.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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