The 225-issue Nikkei stock average slipped below 63,000 on Friday for the first time in about a month on an intraday basis. The 225-issue Nikkei stock average temporarily plunged over 4,100 points Friday afternoon due to selling of issues related to semiconductors and artificial intelligence following overnight falls in their U.S. counterparts. At 1:41 p.m., the index of 225 major issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime section stood at 62,704.60, down 4,130.94 points, or 6.18%, from Thursday's closing. It slipped below 63,000 for the first time in about a month on an intraday basis. In the Tokyo market, memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings and other key Nikkei component issues came under selling pressure. "We can't help thinking that the boom in generative AI-related stocks is about to end," an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said.

Chipmaker Kioxia's market value halves from peak on AI selloff Kioxia overtook auto giant Toyota in market cap value in mid-June, but its ranking has since dropped to the fourth-largest Japanese company, as traders grow more critical over artificial intelligence. Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings' market capitalization halved in just a month since becoming the nation's most valuable company, on growing concerns the artificial intelligence-driven rally in the sector has gone too far. Kioxia shares tumbled as much as 16% in Tokyo's morning trading on Friday, down 52% from last month's peak and losing at least ¥30 trillion ($185 billion) in value. In mid-June, Kioxia overtook auto giant Toyota in market cap value after the stock rallied more than 600% from the start of the year, driven by exuberance about demand for memory and data storage amid an AI boom. Its ranking has since dropped to the fourth-largest Japanese company. "The chip sector is vulnerable to the silicon cycle, and we've seen this pattern many times before," said Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities.

Google Search AI poses'unacceptable risk' to kids, report finds A new report from a California-based nonprofit says the artificial intelligence features built in to Alphabet's Google Search pose an unacceptable risk" to children. The artificial intelligence features built in to Alphabet's Google Search pose an "unacceptable risk" to children, according to a new report from the Youth AI Safety Institute at Common Sense Media, a California-based nonprofit. The study found that on test accounts configured for minors, the ubiquitous search engine's AI features failed to detect suicide risks, said an eating disorder symptom was normal, and provided instructions for creating deepfakes, or sexually explicit fake content. The report added that unlike standalone chatbots, Google's AI tools are built directly into the default search experience on school and personal devices, currently offering administrators or parents no way to disable them. The report specifically evaluated AI Overviews, which generate automated answers above traditional search results, and AI Mode, a conversational feature that lets users chat back and forth with the search engine. Rather than matching searches to a list of external links, the new features use generative AI to answer complex questions directly on the search page -- a format critics say presents the automated summaries as if they are definitive answers.

China's AI ascendance gives Xi a stage and a security dilemma The rise of China's AI models is handing President Xi Jinping new bragging rights and a stronger claim to shaping the technology's global rules. The rise of China's AI models is handing President Xi Jinping new bragging rights and a stronger claim to shaping the technology's global rules, even as their growing power stirs security alarm in Washington and Beijing alike. Xi is expected to make his case in his debut at the World AI Conference in Shanghai starting Friday, an event that previously attracted Elon Musk and Jack Ma. He'll be addressing scores of tech and government leaders as Chinese models win over companies worldwide, with their share of U.S. firms' AI usage nearing record 60% on the popular marketplace OpenRouter. In what could be a preview of Xi's position, state media this week cast China's openness as the antidote to a world of walls. The Communist Party's flagship mouthpiece People's Daily warned against an "AI Iron Curtain," contrasting an "oil mindset" that hoards data and computing power with a "water" approach that treats AI as a public good for all, without naming any country.

The Cabinet has adopted revised guidelines for artificial intelligence-related policies to bolster cybersecurity measures. The government has revised its guidelines for artificial intelligence-related policies, calling for constantly strengthening measures against cyberattacks in light of serious risks posed by cutting-edge AI models. The original AI policy guidelines were compiled only last December. The revision comes amid rapid technological innovation, including the launch of U.S. startup Anthropic's Claude Mythos. The revised guidelines, adopted at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, note the growing threat of cyberattacks against the backdrop of advancing AI capabilities, and call for collaborating with foreign government agencies and AI development companies to significantly strengthen the capabilities of Japan's AI Safety Institute. The guidelines also highlight the need to avoid excessive reliance on specific countries or companies for AI, and express the government's intention to develop domestic AI that addresses challenges facing Japan.

A facial recognition system has been introduced at ticket gates at Ikebukuro Station on the Tobu Tojo Line in Tokyo. Hitachi and Tobu Railway on Wednesday introduced a facial recognition system at ticket gates at Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo's Toshima Ward. Passengers can pass through the ticket gates hands-free if they register their facial data and commuter pass information in advance. The companies hope to encourage other railway operators to adopt the system, which can be installed by simply adding cameras and other equipment to existing ticket gates. The system was jointly developed in cooperation with three ticket gate manufacturers, including Toshiba. This is the first time that the system has been installed at a major terminal station in Tokyo.

In an industrial park on the outskirts of Beijing, a humanoid arm picks up a bag of Lay's potato chips and places it neatly along a row of snacks on a shelf. Nearby, a worker films himself grabbing cushions off a sofa and folding sheets on a bed, recording videos that will be used to develop brains for robots. China is deploying more humanoids than ever before, sending thousands to logistics hubs, battery factories and other industrial locations at a faster pace than the U.S. Buoyed by support from the government and a flood of investment, startups are getting their most advanced machines out into the world in a bid to gather torrents of data that can fuel the development of smarter, more humanlike machines. President Xi Jinping is looking to the robotics industry for help beating the U.S. in a global technology race. China's manufacturing prowess and robust supply chain management position it well to reap the benefits of humanoids before its geopolitical rival. Xi is due to address the country's flagship AI conference this week for the first time, where the latest humanoids will be on display.

OpenAI's first device will be movable, screenless speaker built as AI companion OpenAI is developing a new smart speaker that will turn its presence on a computer screen to a physical manifestation of its ChatGPT. OpenAI's much-anticipated push into consumer devices is slated to begin with a mobile, screen-free smart speaker designed to be a new type of home computer for the artificial intelligence era, according to people familiar with the matter. The product -- still under development -- is meant to serve as a humanlike AI companion that lives in the home, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project hasn't been announced. It will help control smart-home appliances, play media, answer questions, respond to messages and tap into the range of capabilities offered by OpenAI's ChatGPT, they said. The device represents a critical next step for OpenAI, a top developer of AI models that is poised for an initial public offering in the coming months. The move will vault the company into deeper competition with the likes of Apple, Amazon and Alphabet's Google, and the push has already met some resistance.

The global race to build artificial intelligence data centers has turbocharged business for chipmakers, creating shortages and sending prices soaring for memory components in particular. And Kioxia is reaping the rewards. 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. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.

Twenty-six employees of Meta Platforms have filed a novel lawsuit accusing the tech giant of using AI-powered software that disproportionately targeted people with disabilities or who took medical leave in selecting workers for mass layoffs. The lawsuit, filed in Oakland, California, federal court late Monday, says that the company relied on factors such as productivity and AI token usage when it slashed thousands of jobs earlier this year, disadvantaging people who missed work because of medical conditions or to care for family members. The plaintiffs, who were notified in May that their jobs would be eliminated starting on July 22, are seeking a preliminary ruling from the court blocking Meta from completing the layoffs while they pursue their claims in private arbitration. The workers say Meta's agreements require employees to arbitrate workplace disputes individually, but do not apply to requests for temporary relief. A Meta spokesperson on Tuesday said the claims lack merit. "Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI," the spokesperson said.