Can't cook or shower: Indonesians take aim at data centers The Nongsa Digital Park (NDP) area, a hub for artificial intelligence (AI)-based data center and digital infrastructure development, in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia, on Nov. 3. Batam, Indonesia - Cooking and bathing became difficult when taps ran dry in Batam, an Indonesian island where residents are protesting as data centers spring up to power the global artificial intelligence boom. The area had suffered a "long drought" caused by low rainfall, the local water utility operator said, as a strong El Nino cycle exacerbates dry weather. But, as in other countries, anger has been directed at the data centers, warehouse-like facilities that keep apps and artificial intelligence tools running, with water often used to cool their humming servers. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Demonstrators against artificial intelligence hold a protest in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Candidates who favor stricter oversight of artificial intelligence racked up wins in key congressional races, aided by a pro-regulation political funding group backed in part by Anthropic at a time when Americans are increasingly uneasy over the rapidly developing technology. Public First, funded by Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei and other AI safety advocates, poured more than $63 million into the midterms to promote candidates aligned with its goal of stricter regulation, according to the group's numbers. The architects of two of the country's most sweeping state-level AI laws -- Colorado's Manny Rutinel and California's Scott Wiener -- will be among the incoming U.S. House members elected with help from Public First, bringing energy and expertise to Congress. Ten of the 17 congressional candidates the group backed were elected.

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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government unveiled a package of emergency measures Friday to address Japan's cybersecurity crisis, ranging from establishing a team of top-gun specialists later this month to cooperating with artificial intelligence companies to counter threats. Japan has faced a barrage of high-profile cyberattacks this year that have been attributed to the rise of AI and security system vulnerabilities exacerbated by poor cyber hygiene. In addition to the team of specialists, who will focus on penetration testing and strengthening security measures, a separate expert team -- a mix of government officials and the private sector -- will be dispatched to support companies dealing with an attack. 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 Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department conducts an on-site investigation of a fatal hit-and-run incident, with traffic restrictions in place, on Dec. 22, 2025, in Adachi Ward, Tokyo. Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department plans to introduce a new system that can reconstruct traffic accidents using artificial intelligence, it was learned Wednesday. The system will combine AI with 3D spatial data from accident sites and footage from nearby security cameras, reducing the need for lengthy on-site inspections, which require traffic restrictions and often cause congestion and economic losses. The MPD plans to test the new system from June 2027 and launch full-scale operations in January 2028. Related expenses have been included in the police department's budget request for the next fiscal year. Currently, fatal accidents and hit-and-run incidents are investigated through on-site inspections, in which vehicles are positioned as they were at the time of the crash and measurements are taken to produce reports and diagrams.

JR East's new four-legged landscapers are proving to be a hit An East Japan Railway worker alongside one of two goats that the railway company has deployed to an area near Tokyo's Yotsuya Station in order to trim excess growth | Johan Brooks In a city with countless food options, a new spot in Tokyo is drawing lunchtime crowds, although it's the four-legged workers in the area who are doing most of the eating. Atop a wrought-iron bridge next to Yotsuya Station, clusters of smartly dressed students and workers linger in amazement at the rather unusual site below: a pair of sprightly, cream-colored goats nibbling overgrown greenery. One-year-old Nagi, a male, and Pokke, a 2-year-old female, are the key "employees" in a new environmentally friendly initiative by East Japan Railway to tackle overgrowth near the bustling train hub. 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.

Takanari Ono, CEO of Valt Japan, at Next Hero DIC Marunouchi, a digital work support center created with Mitsubishi Estate. In Marunouchi, one of Tokyo's central business districts, a new model of digital work infrastructure is testing how people who face barriers to employment can contribute to real business needs, and to the city's wider economy. For Takanari Ono, CEO of Valt Japan Co., Ltd., the question of work began in the pharmaceutical industry. Before founding the company in 2014, Ono worked at a pharmaceutical company, where he believed medicine could improve people's lives by stabilizing symptoms and supporting health. Then, at a patient advocacy group meeting, he heard something that changed his perspective.

Waymo and two Japanese firms, Go and Nihon Kotsu, will jointly launch driverless taxi services in Tokyo in 2027. Metropolitan Police Department plans to set up next spring a section dedicated to the investigation and prevention of accidents involving autonomous driving, the force has said. High-level knowledge and skills are necessary to investigate the causes of such accidents and the Tokyo police hope to accumulate expertise and share it with police departments in other prefectures amid the spread of autonomous driving trials held across the country. The new section, to be created within the police department's traffic bureau, will be in charge of handling applications for Level 4 services -- under which a system handles all driving operations under specified conditions -- as well as investigating accidents and advocating accident prevention. Taxi-hailing app operator Go, U.S. self-driving technology firm Waymo and taxi operator Nihon Kotsu announced in September that they will jointly launch driverless taxi services in Tokyo in 2027, marking Japan's first such commercial service.

Trump's AI liability push opens blame game for models gone rogue The Trump administration's embrace of legal liability to enforce artificial intelligence safety sets the stage for future conflicts over who foots the bill when AI models go rogue: the companies that design the systems or the people that deploy the technology. Holding AI developers financially responsible for the safety of their products has won support from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and former White House AI czar David Sacks, who argue that existing liability laws would be more effective than new rules. President Donald Trump, in spurning new AI safeguards, has taken it a step further, saying the Justice Department should intervene if models get out of hand. In a sign of the administration's increased willingness to invoke current law to address safety concerns, Trump's newly launched AI task force late Friday warned developers that they are required to report and resolve security incidents or face potential unspecified consequences. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during an event in Tokyo in July. SoftBank Group seeks to raise as much as $100 billion from Gulf investors to help it amp up its bets on artificial intelligence (AI), the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Founder Masayoshi Son has held early talks with potential investors including those in the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said. The proposed fund would buy companies and use AI and machines, including from SoftBank's robotics arm Roze, to improve operations, the FT said. Fundraising of that scale would fuel more spending by the tech investment firm, which has invested almost $65 billion in OpenAI ahead of the AI lab's public debut.