All 50 economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark rate to 0.75% at a policy meeting set to conclude next Friday, a Bloomberg survey of BOJ watchers found. The Bank of Japan will raise its policy interest rate next week, resuming a hiking cycle for the first time since January, according to a Bloomberg survey of BOJ watchers. All 50 economists expect the central bank to raise its benchmark rate to 0.75% at a policy meeting set to conclude next Friday, according to the poll. This is the first time every respondent has predicted a rate shift under Gov. Kazuo Ueda's watch. The BOJ is expected to restart the cycle of hikes after pausing for months to assess the impact from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff campaign.

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.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. We want to have one central source of approval, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. It will give the Trump administration tools to push back on the most onerous state rules, said White House AI adviser David Sacks. The government will not oppose AI regulations around children's safety, he added. The move marks a win for technology giants who have called for US-wide AI legislation as it could have a major impact on America's goal of leading the fast-developing industry.

OpenAI and its investor Microsoft have been sued over a Connecticut murder-suicide in the latest case to blame ChatGPT for dangerous psychological manipulation of users. OpenAI and its investor, Microsoft, have been sued over a Connecticut murder-suicide in the latest case to blame the popular ChatGPT chatbot for dangerous psychological manipulation of users. The lawsuit turns on the actions of a 56-year-old man who lived with his 83-year-old mother in Greenwich, Connecticut, and had been conversing for months with the chatbot over his fear that he was under surveillance and people were trying to kill him. In August, according to police and the state medical examiner, Stein-Erik Soelberg killed his mother, Suzanne Adams, then took his own life. Soelberg's dialogue with ChatGPT convinced him that he had made the chatbot conscious, and that he had been implanted with a "divine instrument system" in his neck and brain, which related to a "divine mission," according to a complaint filed Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco, where OpenAI is based.

The new games will join an Amazon TV series that heads into production in 2026. The last mainline Tomb Raider game was 2018's, and after spending a few years in video game purgatory, Lara Croft is coming back in two new games. At The Game Awards 2025, Amazon Game Studios announced that will reimagine of one of the hero's early adventures in 2026, and will continue the series in 2027. And yes, it seems like dinosaurs will be in the mix. A new Tomb Raider game has been in the works officially since at least 2022, when Amazon announced that it would be publishing the next game in the series.

Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Catalyst, which will be out in 2027. Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Catalyst, which will be out in 2027. An all-new Croft adventure, Tomb Raider Catalyst, will be released in 2027 - and a remake of the action heroine's first adventure arrives next year After a long break for Lara Croft, a couple of fresh Tomb Raider adventures are on their way. They will be the first new games in the series since 2018, and both will be published by Amazon. Announced at the Game Awards in LA, Tomb Raider Catalyst stars the "charismatic, self-assured, formidable Lara Croft" from the original 1990s games, says game director Will Kerslake.

SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son speaks in Tokyo earlier this month. Sources have said the group is considering acquiring data-center operator Switch. The move would give it outright ownership of a large portfolio of the facilities at a time when demand for their computing power is growing rapidly. SoftBank Group is studying potential acquisitions including data-center operator Switch, as billionaire founder Masayoshi Son ramps up the search for deals that can help it ride the artificial intelligence-fueled boom in digital infrastructure, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The Japanese company has held discussions with Switch leadership and has been conducting due diligence on the closely held company, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

The administration will also attempt to prevent states with "onerous" AI laws from accessing broadband funding. WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 11: U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on December 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. The executive order curbs states' ability to regulate artificial intelligence, something for which the tech industry has been lobbying. On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a single, nationwide regulatory framework governing artificial intelligence at the expense of the ability of different states to regulate the nascent technology. "To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation," the order states. As was expected after a draft of the order leaked earlier this week, the centerpiece of the document is an "AI Litigation Task Force whose sole responsibility shall be to challenge state AI laws inconsistent" with the president's policy vision.

Casey Hudson is returning to space for a brand new project. The Game Awards kicked off with a bang, showing the world premiere of . It's a brand new action role-playing game that will be directed by Casey Hudson, who previously headed up several notable BioWare games you probably know like and . There's not much to go on in the trailer, but the game simply existing is a pretty great surprise and this cinematic trailer sure looks shiny. Hudson is working with Arcanaut Studios on this project, which is described as "an epic interactive adventure across a galaxy on the brink of rebirth where every decision shapes your path towards light or darkness."

It's from a new studio founded by devs of Red Dead Redemption and Mario + Rabbids. A lot of trailers drop during The Game Awards, but the comedy of stood out from the pack. The conceit is similar to . Bradley, the protagonist of a fictional platforming series, is suddenly transported into the worlds of other unfinished video games; the trailer shows a badger-ified, and . He also has access to a kit of dev tools that let him modify these incomplete projects, getting a taste of making a game.