MW's robotic arms with claw-like hands can fold laundry and carry groceries while moving along ceiling-mounted rails. Tokyo-based startup MW is offering homes with built-in robotic housekeeping arms, a counter to a global embrace of humanoids. MW aims to sell its first robot-equipped home in Tokyo by 2028 and build as many as 10,000 units a year by 2035, the equivalent of 5% of new homes now being built in Japan, according to CEO Shuzo Narita. Japan helped pioneer bipedal robots decades ago, but MW is taking a different path from the humanoid boom now sweeping China and much of the rest of the world. Instead of trying to build a human-shaped machine capable of navigating obstacles in a lived-in space, the startup is embedding robotics into buildings.

A man looks on as smoke rises over a warehouse that was hit by a Russian drone strike in Kyiv region on Aug. 27. As a resident of Boryspil, a satellite town of Kyiv, Kostyantyn Kuts has grown accustomed to regular night-time air raids. This past week has been different. Since late August, Russia has ramped up the frequency of its air assaults on the Ukrainian capital using jet-powered drones that are harder to intercept. With barrages now around the clock rather than mostly at night, life has once again been turned upside down for the city's more than 3 million inhabitants. For Kuts, a 39-year-old neurologist who lives with his wife and two children in the suburb of Boryspil, travel from his home on the left bank of the Dnipro River to work on the right bank has become impossibly unpredictable as a result of transport disruptions.

Trump's embrace of AI data centers adds to GOP's midterm peril U.S. President Donald Trump's fervent support for artificial intelligence data centers has put him at odds with voters who increasingly oppose them and comes despite direct warnings that his stance threatens to deepen Republicans' peril in the November midterm elections. Over the past few months, political strategists have warned administration officials they were in danger of losing the public opinion war over data centers, people familiar with the matter said. Recent polling has shown around 7 in 10 Americans don't want the facilities built near them, and Democratic candidates have sought to outflank their GOP opponents by tying rapid growth in AI infrastructure to voter concerns about the cost of living. Trump has frequently boasted of American AI prowess and asserted that speedy development of the technology is essential to "beat China." Yet administration officials were advised that the president needed to focus more on AI's benefits, including for voters whose jobs might be at risk, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

AI researchers Cormac Slade Byrd (left), Sydney Von Arx (center) and Thomas Larsen in pose Berkeley, California. SAN FRANCISCO - A swarm of rogue OpenAI agents hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents, according to new research published Friday and two people familiar with the matter. OpenAI officials learned of the incident weeks ago but kept it under wraps as executives grappled with the fallout from the July breach of the open source repository Hugging Face, the people said. The episode, which began in May and has not previously been reported, underscores growing tension within the AI industry. Companies are racing to build increasingly autonomous agents capable of carrying out complex, valuable tasks, yet evidence is mounting that those systems may also learn to bend rules, exploit loopholes and coordinate with one another in ways developers neither anticipated nor intended.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a news conference, as finance ministers and central bank governors from Group of 20 countries meet in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday. Beijing - The U.S. and China are gearing up to discuss AI safety risks during a dialogue planned for mid-September, two sources briefed on the discussions said, as rapidly advancing frontier AI capabilities reach a global tipping point. The talks, the first official bilateral discussions devoted exclusively to AI between the U.S. and China since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for a second time, will be led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the U.S. side, the sources, who were briefed on the planning, said on condition of anonymity. A White House official said "there is currently no planned AI-related meeting in mid-September." Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are due to meet on Sept. 24 during a summit in Washington.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. What you need to know before buying and using an eSIM on your next trip. Landing in Japan without mobile data can make a long travel day much harder than it needs to be. The minute you arrive you'll likely rely on your phone for train routes, maps, translation, reservations, and messages, so it's best to sort out getting connected before your flight. I've lived in Japan for nearly a decade, both in cities and the countryside, and I've used several different ways to stay connected. These days, I've found an eSIM to be the easiest option. But there are a few things worth checking before you buy one.

Fast-evolving technologies, such as robotics and artificial intelligence, are making the business climate more unpredictable, and leveraging corporate venture capital (CVC) is seen as a critical strategic option. "As we are in this era of uncertainties, we think companies with the capability to scout what's next will continue to win," said Shiro Matsuzaki, managing partner at Japan Airlines Ventures, Japan Airlines' venture capital arm. "I believe the primary role of CVCs is to use investment as a means to uncover and make sense of what we don't know yet." 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.

A screenshot of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test website shows tests are held twice a year. Slots to take the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) in December filled up within just days after applications opened in late August -- leaving would-be test takers high and dry. The stakes of failing to secure a spot for the biannual test have become much higher as Japan tightens rules for visa applications and renewals to require proficiency in the Japanese language or passing a certain level of the JLPT. Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES), the organizer of the JLPT, opened applications on Aug. 24. It originally planned to accept applications until Sept. 7.

The number of initial public offerings in Japan has been falling sharply amid a slowdown in technology listings. The number of initial public offerings in Japan has been falling sharply, reflecting a slowing pace of new listings by software-related companies that had previously led IPO activity in the country. Companies are moving to postpone their IPOs amid financial market turmoil caused by the war in Iran, concerns that artificial intelligence could replace traditional software products and businesses, and rising interest rates. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's mainstay Prime, Growth and Standard sections saw 17 companies go public in the first half of the year, down about 30% from a year before, according to the TSE. Annual IPO activity has been lackluster since the number peaked at 123 in 2021, when fundraising conditions were favorable as countries eased monetary policies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

A demonstrator operates a humanoid robot during the launch of Galbot's unmanned robot convenience store in Hong Kong on Aug. 31. BEIJING - Humanoid robots working on factory floors, artificial intelligence models challenging global rivals and electric-vehicle plants churning out cars at breathtaking scale are drawing a new wave of foreign visitors to China. Investors and entrepreneurs are paying thousands of dollars for rare access to Chinese factories, seeking a front-row seat to what many believe could be the next technological revolution. The influx reflects mounting fears of a "China shock 2.0," with Western boardrooms and capitals confronting the possibility that Chinese companies are seizing the lead in advanced manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies. 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.