U.S. defense firm Anduril in talks for Nissan plant to build drones in Japan, sources say U.S. defense firm Anduril Industries is in talks to acquire the plant to build military drones in Japan, sources say. U.S. defense firm Anduril Industries is in talks to acquire Nissan Motor's Oppama assembly plant near Tokyo as the maker of autonomous weapons looks to build military drones in Japan, according to three sources familiar with the matter. While they say no decision has been made, any deal could transform one of Japan's first large-scale postwar car factories, long a symbol of its industrial revival, into an arms-making hub. The talks over Oppama, which are being reported for the first time, come as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government seeks to expand defense manufacturing amid growing concern that a Taiwan Strait crisis could draw in Japan and run down weapons stocks. 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.

Anthropic accuses Alibaba of'illicitly' accessing AI models Alibaba's American depositary receipts sank to a session low on the news, falling more than 3% to $99.10 at 3:38 p.m. in New York on Wednesday. Anthropic accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group Holding of waging a large-scale effort to "illicitly" access its Claude artificial intelligence model using thousands of fraudulent accounts that undermine the U.S. AI developer's decision to keep its products out of China. Anthropic claimed that a campaign by operators linked to Alibaba's Qwen AI lab targeted Claude's most prized capabilities, including software engineering and agentic reasoning, according to a letter that the AI startup sent to several U.S. senators and White House officials. The company said it was the biggest attempt so far by a Chinese company to piggyback on the work of top U.S. labs. In its letter, Anthropic claimed that the effort involved 28.8 million exchanges with Claude between April and June through almost 25,000 fraudulent accounts, according to people familiar with the document and a copy seen by Bloomberg News. The company said the Alibaba campaign resembled past efforts by other Chinese developers that Anthropic flagged in a blog post earlier this year.

People visit the Delta Electronics booth during the annual Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 3, 2026. Thailand's stock market is having the best year among Southeast Asian peers, as investors discover an unlikely source of exposure to the global artificial-intelligence boom. Much of that gain has come from Delta Electronics (Thailand). The maker of power systems for AI data centers has surged more than 80% this year and became Thailand's first $100 billion company, large enough to be worth more than the next four largest Thai stocks combined. While the country lacks the semiconductor champions of Taiwan or South Korea, investors are increasingly recognizing its role in supplying the infrastructure behind AI. "Thailand isn't a pure AI market, but its exposure to data centers, electronics, power systems and digital infrastructure gives investors a new way to view Thai equities beyond the traditional tourism, banks and domestic consumption cycle," Bloomberg Intelligence Strategist Sufianti said in a note. Delta's rise is the clearest evidence of that shift.

An artificial intelligence-equipped camera system shows a person trapped inside a railway crossing gate during a test by Kintetsu Railway. A growing number of Japanese railway operators are introducing artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems to help prevent accidents involving trains at level crossings. The technology can automatically detect and report abnormalities, such as stalled vehicles or people trapped on the tracks, enabling train drivers and other railway staff to respond more quickly. Industry officials view AI as an effective tool for improving crossing safety, while the government has started offering financial support to encourage wider adoption. Kintetsu Railway, based in the city of Osaka, has tested an AI-equipped camera system at a crossing on the Kyoto Line in the town of Seika, Kyoto Prefecture.

First global rules adopted for self-driving cars, U.N. says Safety concerns and costs have long slowed progress on autonomous vehicles. The first global regulations for fully autonomous vehicles were adopted Wednesday, a U.N. agency said, establishing uniform international safety requirements that could pave the way for larger-scale rollouts of self-driving cars. Safety concerns and the cost of developing next-level systems have long slowed progress on autonomous vehicles. As self-driving cars have begun to hit the road in a growing number of cities, the fragmented national approaches to regulation have spurred manufacturer fears that vehicles developed for one market could be blocked from others. In a bid to address that issue, a meeting of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations at the United Nations in Geneva decided to introduce a global regulatory framework for vehicles equipped with fully autonomous driving systems (ADS).