'Defense,' not'warfare,' stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7. Japan is taking lessons on "new ways of warfare" gleaned from the Ukraine and Iran conflicts and making them its own, with the government considering making "new ways of defense" a key tenet of revisions to the country's security policy. But it is also aiming to win public support for its military buildup in the ostensibly pacifist nation, a goal that is evident in the verbal gymnastics officials have performed as the term "new ways of defense" ( atarashii mamorikata) -- as opposed to " new ways of warfare" ( atarashii tatakaikata) -- becomes more prominent in briefings, speeches and official documents. The concept of "new ways of warfare," which emerged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and references the large-scale use of drones, missiles and artificial intelligence, has been adopted by Japan and scores of other nations. It has gained further prominence among defense planners with the large-scale use of drones and missiles in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Micron Technology on Saturday broke ground on the expansion of its factory in western Japan, a ¥1.5 trillion ($9.3 billion) undertaking to produce advanced memory chips. The Boise, Idaho-based company is building the facility in Hiroshima to make chips such as high-bandwidth memory crucial for AI processors like Nvidia's, with shipments to start around the summer of 2028. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has allocated up to ¥500 billion to help cover the cost. The move is part of a global rampup by the U.S. company to meet demand for AI. Micron is building two leading-edge fabs in Boise and in January held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $100 billion production site outside Syracuse, New York, part of a pledge to increase DRAM production on American soil. "Micron's very first HBM production wafer -- for the memory technology at the heart of AI -- was made right here in Hiroshima," Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said during a ceremony attended by central and local government officials.

Hiroo Ota (center left), CEO of Kioxia Holdings, and others unveil Kioxia's new 3D flash memory chip at its Kitakami plant in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday. Kioxia Holdings has started shipping samples of its next-generation flash memory chips to artificial-intelligence data center operators, seeking to gain ground in the lucrative business against rivals. The Tokyo-based chipmaker's latest high-density 3D flash memory chips aim to better meet AI data center needs with better efficiency and transmission speeds. The 332-layer 10th-generation chips pack more data into silicon and can store 59% more data compared with its previous flagship 8th-generation chip, the company said Friday. Production will take place at the company's second manufacturing facility at its Kitakami plant in Iwate Prefecture, which began operating in September last year.

OpenAI proposes handing U.S. government a 5% stake, report says OpenAI has discussed giving the U.S. government a 5% stake as artificial intelligence firms face scrutiny in Washington. OpenAI has discussed giving the U.S. government a 5% stake, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, as artificial intelligence firms face scrutiny in Washington over the likely misuse of advanced models and whether Americans would benefit from the industry's massive valuations. The ChatGPT creator has proposed that other U.S. AI firms also give Washington similar stakes, although it is unclear whether they would agree, the report said, citing two people familiar with the talks. The move follows growing public backlash in the U.S. over AI's potential to cause economic upheaval, including layoffs, and could help OpenAI sweeten ties with an administration that is increasingly taking an active role in regulating the technology. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Zhipu's AI service on the web, dubbed Z.ai. BEIJING/BENGALURU - Since DeepSeek shocked markets early last year with its cheap but powerful artificial intelligence model, global consumers have been faced with a choice: Chinese offerings with lower prices and less capability or OpenAI or Anthropic, which have poured billions into development. A model called GLM-5.2, launched last month by Beijing-based startup Z.ai, may finally be closing that gap in terms of Western interest. GLM-5.2 has Silicon Valley buzzing with its coding and agent capabilities, or the ability to execute complex tasks with minimal prompting, that almost rival leading U.S. offerings at a fraction of the cost, in what some experts are calling a "mini DeepSeek moment." In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

From the 1st-5th June, the robots descended on Vienna. The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA) brought together the top minds in robotics for one short week to showcase the latest technologies, form new collaborations, and exchange ideas. Held at the Messe Wien, a stone's throw from the bank of the Danube, ICRA proved to be equal parts technological marvel and thought-provoking discussion. The host venue for ICRA 2026: Messe Wien, also known as VIECON. My week at ICRA began with the 2nd ICRA 2026 Workshop on Robot Ethics: Ethical, Legal and User Perspectives in Robotics & Automation (WOROBET) .

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama speaks during an interview on Monday. The Group of Seven nations will discuss standards on artificial intelligence security and defense, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has said. Speaking in a recent interview, Katayama said that financial institutions "need to decide the order of priority for fixing their systems," in order to prepare for the possibility of advanced AI models detecting a large number of vulnerabilities in their systems. She added that the G7 nations, which include Japan, will discuss related criteria and work together to tackle cyberattacks. State-of-the-art AI models, such as Claude Mythos, developed by U.S. startup Anthropic, are believed to be highly proficient in identifying system vulnerabilities. Katayama has been negotiating with the United States to ensure that major financial institutions in Japan have access to these technologies.

A sign showing bear deterrent measures is displayed next to a wolf-shaped robotic device outside a convenience store in a rural area of Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture. Five people were hospitalized after a man accidentally set off an anti-bear spray in a post office in Nagoya's city center, reports and officials said, as Japan grapples with a sharp rise in maulings. A foreign national, who was not named, apologized and told police that he discharged the repellant unintentionally, the reports said. "Eight people felt sick, and of those five were sent to hospital. But there was no report of serious injuries or illness," fire department official Ryohei Asano said after the mishap on Wednesday. At least five people have been killed by bears in Japan since April 1 after a record 13 deaths last fiscal year.

With origins in the English countryside, The Cotswold Company is known for upscale furniture that evokes its bucolic backstory. It's a step-change for a business that's tracked the shift from mail-order catalogs and showrooms to websites. In its simplest form, AI means searching for items via chatbots, but agentic AI could one day see Cotswold's customers represented by bots picking and buying products like a personal shopper. "There is always first-mover advantage with these things," said Chief Executive Officer Ralph Tucker, who joined in 2020 and is AI-readying a business that did 80% of its £123 million ($163 million) in sales online in its latest fiscal year. "If our customers are there, we need to be there and we need to be brilliant at it." In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Japan plans to develop a homegrown artificial intelligence model and have 10 million AI-equipped robots operating in more than a dozen sectors by 2040, the government said. The country will reportedly invest around $6 billion in the homemade AI model, which will be developed by Noetra, a consortium of firms including SoftBank and Sony. Countries around the world are seeking to develop sovereign AI models to reduce a potentially dangerous over-reliance on technology from the United States and China. Media reports said that the government would provide up to 1 trillion yen ($6.1 billion) over the next five years, depending on the results of the initiative. The number of companies investing in Noetra is expected to increase to 44 including those in the automotive, electronics and other manufacturing sectors as well as finance and logistics, the Nikkei business daily reported. Noetra will focus in particular on physical AI, with the government also announcing on Tuesday a revised version of its AI robotics strategy.