The government plans to submit a bill to revise the economic security promotion law during the current session of parliament that began on Wednesday. The Japanese government plans to revise the economic security promotion law to support companies with economic security-linked projects overseas. This will be the first revision of the law, established in 2022. The move comes amid a rapidly changing international environment, as the Ukraine-Russia war drags on and China continues to flex its economic muscle. Competition is also intensifying in the development of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies.

Despite new curbs, Elon Musk's Grok at times produces sexualized images A photorealistic image generated by the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok of a journalist is shown on a phone's screen on Jan. 22 | REUTERS NEW YORK - 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. After Musk's social media company X announced new curbs on Grok's public output, nine reporters gave it a series of prompts to determine whether and under what circumstances the chatbot would generate nonconsensual sexualized images. While Grok's public X account is no longer producing the same flood of sexualized imagery, the Grok chatbot continues to do so when prompted, even after being warned that the subjects were vulnerable or would be humiliated by the pictures, the reporters found. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories.

Nintendo's Switch 2 became the world's fastest-selling gaming console after launching to a fan frenzy last summer. The runaway success of the Switch 2 console drove up Nintendo's net profit by more than 50% in the nine months to December, the Japanese video game giant said Tuesday. But a global memory chip shortage, created by frenzied demand for artificial intelligence hardware, could push up manufacturing costs. The Switch 2 became the world's fastest-selling gaming console after launching to a fan frenzy last summer. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Students originally from overseas attend entrance exam preparation classes for high school advancement at YSC Global School in the city of Fussa, Tokyo, on Jan. 22. As policies related to foreign nationals are expected to be a major issue in Sunday's Lower House election in Japan, some are calling for improvements to Japanese language education for the children of foreign residents. In 2010, Youth Support Center, a nonprofit organization in the city of Fussa, Tokyo, established YSC Global School to provide Japanese language education and support for high school entry for children and young people with foreign roots, tailored to their proficiency levels. The school offers a total of 14 face-to-face and online courses and annually admits about 250 to 300 children from countries such as China, the Philippines and Nepal. Limited classrooms and instructors, however, hinder its ability to accommodate more students. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Elon Musk said on Monday that SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, in a record-setting deal that unifies the billionaire's AI and space ambitions by combining the rocket-and-satellite company with the maker of the Grok chatbot. The deal, first reported last week, represents one of the most ambitious tie-ups in the technology sector yet, combining a space-and-defense contractor with a fast-growing AI developer whose costs are largely driven by chips, data centers and energy. It could also bolster SpaceX's data-center ambitions as Musk competes with rivals such as Alphabet's Google, Meta, Amazon-backed Anthropic and OpenAI in the AI sector. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories.

Russia's war death tally spurs European scrutiny on recruitment Ukrainian servicemen prepare before training at an undisclosed location in the country's Donetsk region on Wednesday. The number of Russian soldiers killed in action in the war in Ukraine has jumped in recent weeks, a dynamic that -- if sustained -- could make it hard for the Kremlin to replace troops without some form of mobilization, according to European estimates. In the grim calculus of war, he cited an ambition to raise that number to 50,000 by this summer -- a figure that would roughly double the monthly average calculated by NATO in 2025. The higher lethality is a result of more effective Ukrainian drone operations, with the ratio of killed to wounded skewing recently toward war dead, according to assessments from multiple European governments. With those estimates showing that the number of fatalities has reached the Kremlin's recruitment level, several of the people said the trajectory would make it difficult to replace losses without a mobilization drive.

Police have arrested a 27-year-old male host on suspicion of violating the amusement business law by using a dating app to solicit female customers to a host club in Tokyo. The arrest marked the first crackdown in the country on cases involving soliciting customers to restaurants and pubs through dating apps, according to the capital's Metropolitan Police Department. The suspect, Takuto Takeoka, remained silent during questioning, people familiar with the investigation said. Takeoka allegedly contacted two women, ages 27 and 28, through a matching app between May and July last year while posing as an information technology industry professional. He then promised them romantic relationships, later disclosed his job and urged them to come to his host club, where male companions entertain women, in the Kabukicho district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.

Musk's SpaceX in merger talks with xAI ahead of planned IPO, source says SpaceX combining with xAI would bring Elon Musk's rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social media platform and Grok AI chatbot under one roof. NEW YORK - Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are in discussions to merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for later this year. The combination would bring Musk's rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social media platform and Grok AI chatbot under one roof, according to a person briefed on the matter and two recent company filings. The plan, which Reuters is reporting exclusively, would give fresh momentum to SpaceX's effort to launch data centers into orbit as Musk battles for supremacy in the rapidly escalating artificial intelligence race against tech giants like Google, Meta and OpenAI. Musk, the world's richest man, is the CEO of both the private space company SpaceX and the artificial intelligence company xAI, which controls his social media platform X.

SpaceX combining with xAI would bring Elon Musk's rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social media platform and Grok AI chatbot under one roof. NEW YORK - SpaceX is exploring deals with other companies helmed by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, leaving investors working through permutations between space, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence to analyze which combination makes the most sense. The rocket maker is in discussions to merge with xAI ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for this year, Reuters reported on Thursday. The combination would bring Musk's rockets, Starlink satellites, X social media platform and Grok chatbot under one roof, according to a person briefed on the matter and two regulatory filings. The deal's value, timing or primary rationale could not be independently determined.

U.K. proposes letting websites refuse being included in Google's AI search Website publishers argue that Google's artificial intelligence-generated summaries discourage clicks to their original pages, reducing traffic to their sites and, in turn, cutting their advertising revenue. LONDON - Britain's competition watchdog proposed Wednesday that websites be allowed to opt out of having their content be used by Google's AI Overviews feature as it tackles the technology giant's dominance in online search. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in October paved the way for tougher regulation on the matter, under new targeted measures focused on technology giants. Last year, it designated Google with strategic market status (SMS), subjecting it to special requirements, following a nine-month investigation. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.