The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is developing a Generative AI Platform, which will allow government employees to create AI applications to assist with their work. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and municipal governments throughout the Japanese capital are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence in their administrative operations. To support this trend, the metropolitan government is working with GovTech Tokyo, an affiliated organization that promotes digitalization in local governments, to develop a Generative AI Platform. The system will allow government employees to create generative AI applications tailored to their specific duties. By encouraging active use of the platform, Tokyo authorities aim to boost efficiency in public services and address growing concerns over labor shortages. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

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.

Nvidia helped DeepSeek hone AI models later used by China's military China's DeepSeek received extensive technical assistance from Nvidia as a legitimate commercial partner hone artificial intelligence models that were later used by the Chinese military, it has been revealed. SAN FRANCISCO - U.S. chipmaker Nvidia helped China's DeepSeek hone artificial intelligence models that were later used by the Chinese military, the chairman of a U.S. House of Representatives committee said in a letter on Wednesday. DeepSeek shook markets early last year with a set of AI models that rivaled some of the best offerings from the United States but were developed with far less computing power, fueling concerns in Washington that China could catch up with the U.S. in AI despite U.S. restrictions on the sale of high-powered computing chips to China. In a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on China, said documents obtained by the committee from Nvidia showed the achievement came after extensive technical assistance from Nvidia. 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.

The government at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday adopted its first basic plan on the development and utilization of artificial intelligence. The basic plan stipulates that Japan will create reliable AI while balancing technological innovation and risk management, with an aim to become a country that offers the best environment for AI development and utilization. Japan lags behind not only other advanced nations but also countries with smaller economies in terms of AI development, and the gap is becoming wider year by year, it warns. 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.

Magnitude 6.7 quake off Aomori triggers tsunami advisory Areas under a tsunami advisory are shown in yellow following a magnitude 6.7 earthquake on Friday | JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY A magnitude 6.7 earthquake triggered a tsunami advisory for parts of Hokkaido as well as the coasts of Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures on Friday. The quake struck at 11:44 a.m., registering 4 on Japan's seismic intensity scale in some areas. Waves of up to 1 meter are possible in areas under the advisory, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). A tsunami advisory, a level lower than a tsunami warning, urges those in the area to stay away from the ocean. Evacuation is not required under an advisory.