Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday. Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa on Thursday praised the U.S. semiconductor plant project selected for the third round of Japanese funding in the United States under the two countries' tariff agreement. The project "holds great significance for Japan and the United States to work together to secure a competitive advantage in the age of artificial intelligence," Akazawa said during a news conference. In the agreement concluded last year, Japan pledged to provide the United States with $550 billion in investment and loans in exchange for U.S. tariff cuts for imports from the Asian country. Under the project, led by U.S. semiconductor contract manufacturer GlobalFoundries, two new plants are set to be built in the state of New York with funding of up to $21 billion.

But they were both great at getting attention. Public Domain Indeed, academics at the time reportedly sent flustered letters to the editor at calling the prediction "ridiculous" and "manifestly absurd." "There was never, even at that time, any reason to think that it would keep growing fast like that."

Waymo and two Japanese firms, Go and Nihon Kotsu, will jointly launch driverless taxi services in Tokyo in 2027. Metropolitan Police Department plans to set up next spring a section dedicated to the investigation and prevention of accidents involving autonomous driving, the force has said. High-level knowledge and skills are necessary to investigate the causes of such accidents and the Tokyo police hope to accumulate expertise and share it with police departments in other prefectures amid the spread of autonomous driving trials held across the country. The new section, to be created within the police department's traffic bureau, will be in charge of handling applications for Level 4 services -- under which a system handles all driving operations under specified conditions -- as well as investigating accidents and advocating accident prevention. Taxi-hailing app operator Go, U.S. self-driving technology firm Waymo and taxi operator Nihon Kotsu announced in September that they will jointly launch driverless taxi services in Tokyo in 2027, marking Japan's first such commercial service.

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during an event in Tokyo in July. SoftBank Group seeks to raise as much as $100 billion from Gulf investors to help it amp up its bets on artificial intelligence (AI), the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Founder Masayoshi Son has held early talks with potential investors including those in the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said. The proposed fund would buy companies and use AI and machines, including from SoftBank's robotics arm Roze, to improve operations, the FT said. Fundraising of that scale would fuel more spending by the tech investment firm, which has invested almost $65 billion in OpenAI ahead of the AI lab's public debut.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Yelp, who? 4 ways Google Maps can help you find your next meal - and order it Jada Jones is a journalist based outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Google reveals its first fan-favorite dining list. The list compiles trends among Maps in 10 cities. Google also highlights deeper Gemini integration with Maps. Google continues to update Google Maps for uses beyond simple navigation, with AI-powered features that help you find places to eat and even order food.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries President Yasuhiko Hashimoto poses with a prototype of the company's dog-like robot, Home Leo, in Tokyo on Tuesday. Kawasaki Heavy Industries has unveiled a prototype of a dog-shaped social robot that helps older people with life at home. Leveraging physical artificial intelligence, the robot, Home Leo, can talk to people, recognize its surroundings, make appropriate decisions according to the situation and act autonomously, according to the Japanese firm. Home Leo was presented at a business briefing the company held in Tokyo on Tuesday. The robot will stay close to the older people it lives with, offering companionship through conversation, watching over them and assisting with their daily activities, Kawasaki Heavy said.

Here's what you can do next Japan is increasingly tightening its language requirements for those looking to live in the country. Japan is increasingly tightening its language requirements for those looking to live in the country, with the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) releasing its stricter language requirements for permanent residency applications this week. Over the course of this year, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has rolled out a raft of Japanese-language requirements across several residence statuses -- leading to a surge in demand for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), considered the gold standard in measuring fluency. The revised guidelines released by the ISA on Thursday require permanent residency applicants to demonstrate ability at B1 or above -- roughly N3 on the JLPT -- on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) starting in April next year. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

A Tokyo court has sided with a Japanese voice actor who claimed a TikTok account had used AI to clone his "lustrous" baritone delivery, ruling that the human voice is protected by law in a landmark case. Kenjiro Tsuda is a prominent anime voice actor who has starred in huge number of movies, series and video games across his more than 30-year career, with his turn as Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh! Tsuda asserted that the voice of the narrator of several TikTok videos uploaded to an anonymous account between July 2024 and the second half of last year was cloned from his own voice. While he was partially victorious in the case, his request to order TikTok to remove the videos in question was dismissed, as the offending account has already been deleted. In its decision, the court said that using the voice of an actor without permission should be deemed an infringement on their publicity rights, as reported by AFP.

Image caption, The hikes are part of immigration policy changes introduced to manage Japan's growing foreign population Japan has raised fees for foreigners looking to reside in the country, with the cost of permanent residency going up 20 times to 200,000 yen ($1,270; £955). Those seeking permanent residency must now also meet new income, pension and Japanese-language requirements. Long lines formed outside immigration offices earlier this week as applicants sought to beat the fee hikes, with Tokyo's main immigration bureau reporting wait times of over seven hours. The fee increases are part of a series of changes to Japan's immigration policy under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, which aim ito manage its rapidly growing foreign population. In July, Japan implemented a five-fold increase in visa fees for all foreigners - its first visa fee hike in 50 years.

Disaster response an'urgent issue,' says new land minister Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tatsunori Ibayashi answers questions during an interview in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Wednesday. New Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tatsunori Ibayashi on Wednesday pledged to respond to heavy rain and other natural disasters with a sense of urgency. Disaster response is an "urgent issue," Ibayashi said in an interview with media organizations, adding that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has strongly instructed Cabinet ministers to prioritize countermeasures. Large-scale natural disasters, including Typhoon Dujuan, have caused significant damage recently in Japan, he said. "The types of disasters have diversified considerably."