A humanoid robot performs ground handling tasks at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Monday. Japan Airlines (JAL) and GMO AI & Robotics, a unit of GMO Internet Group, have announced a demonstration experiment to utilize humanoid robots for ground handling tasks at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The roughly three-year test will begin next month with the aim of reducing the need for manpower and cutting employee workloads amid a severe labor shortage in the industry. In the test, announced Monday, two robots made in China will carry out tasks such as transporting containers and opening and closing levers that secure them. Future plans include enabling the robots to operate autonomously, thereby expanding the range of tasks they can perform.

Uber has teamed up with UK self-driving car startup Wayve and Nissan to launch a pilot program for a robotaxi service in Tokyo in late 2026. The program will use Nissan Leaf EVs powered by Wayve's AI Driver automated vehicle technology, which will then be connected to Uber's platform. Trained drivers will be behind the wheel at first, as the deployed vehicles gather real-world data to be able to navigate Tokyo's driving conditions and complex streets that are also a lot narrower than the roads in the US. Another company backed by Uber, Nuro, will also test its vehicles on Tokyo's challenging streets soon. Nuro has been trialing its self-driving tech in the US for years now and plans to launch a robotaxi service, as well.

U.S. self-driving startup Nuro begins testing in Tokyo While Tokyo is becoming a kind of test bed for the world's leading robotaxi ventures, Japan is lagging when it comes to the regulatory framework needed for autonomous vehicles to gain traction. Self-driving car startup Nuro has begun testing its technology in Tokyo, the U.S. company's first location abroad after partnering with Uber Technologies and Lucid Group. Backed by the likes of Nvidia and Toyota Motor, California-based Nuro aims to compete with other driverless operators such as Google parent Alphabet's Waymo and Amazon.com's Obviously there are a number of Japanese OEMs that are very interesting potential customers to us in the future," Andrew Chapin, Nuro's chief operating officer, said in an interview, using an industry term for car manufacturer. He declined to name any possible partners or confirm if Nuro is currently in talks with a Japan-based automaker.

Deputy Tokyo Gov. Manabu Miyasaka speaks during a SusHi Tech pre-event in Tokyo on Monday. Tokyo's annual startup convention, SusHi Tech Tokyo, is growing to be Asia's largest startup event with this year's conference in April set to focus on artificial intelligence, robotics, resilience and entertainment. The fourth SusHi Tech Tokyo -- which stands for Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo -- is expected to be the largest to date, with over 700 startups in participation. It will be held from April 27 to 29, with the first two days reserved for businesses and the final day open to the public. "(SusHi Tech Tokyo) has grown into Asia's largest innovation conference," Manabu Miyasaka, Tokyo's deputy governor, said on Monday.

Foreign workers in Japan became one of the main topics of all parties in the Feb. 8 Lower House election, which took place just after a Jan. 23 Cabinet decision calling for 1,231,900 foreign workers by March 2029 in 19 sectors facing acute labor shortages. While some parties argued for strictly monitoring foreign nationals or setting quotas on their numbers, especially at the local level, an artificial-intelligence engineer-led party that went into the election with no seats and emerged with 11 proportional representation seats proposed the increased use of AI to replace workers, including foreign nationals, as a solution to concerns about more foreign workers. Team Mirai, founded in May and led by Takahiro Anno, won four seats in the Tokyo block and three in the South Kanto block, along with one seat each in the Tohoku, North Kanto, Tokai, and Kyushu blocks. 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.

Team Mirai leader Takahiro Anno stumps in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Jan. 27, the first day of campaigning for the Lower House election slated for Sunday. A small, 9-month-old party that has only one seat in the Upper House may gain as many seats as decadesold peers such as the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) in Sunday's Lower House election with its unconventional campaign pledges to change politics and the government through digital technology. A weekend poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun showed Team Mirai could win up to 10 seats under the proportional representation system, more than the JCP's nine seats and Reiwa Shinsengumi's six. The party didn't have any seats in the Lower House before its dissolution. The party's founder and leader is a 35-year-old artificial intelligence engineer behind two AI startups -- Takahiro Anno. He had been working on societal reform through digital transformation when he pivoted from business to politics with the launch of Team Mirai last May.

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.

Police have arrested a 27-year-old male host on suspicion of violating the amusement business law by using a dating app to solicit female customers to a host club in Tokyo. The arrest marked the first crackdown in the country on cases involving soliciting customers to restaurants and pubs through dating apps, according to the capital's Metropolitan Police Department. The suspect, Takuto Takeoka, remained silent during questioning, people familiar with the investigation said. Takeoka allegedly contacted two women, ages 27 and 28, through a matching app between May and July last year while posing as an information technology industry professional. He then promised them romantic relationships, later disclosed his job and urged them to come to his host club, where male companions entertain women, in the Kabukicho district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.

U.K. proposes letting websites refuse being included in Google's AI search Website publishers argue that Google's artificial intelligence-generated summaries discourage clicks to their original pages, reducing traffic to their sites and, in turn, cutting their advertising revenue. LONDON - Britain's competition watchdog proposed Wednesday that websites be allowed to opt out of having their content be used by Google's AI Overviews feature as it tackles the technology giant's dominance in online search. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in October paved the way for tougher regulation on the matter, under new targeted measures focused on technology giants. Last year, it designated Google with strategic market status (SMS), subjecting it to special requirements, following a nine-month investigation. 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.

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.