Yahoo Japan Corp. said Tuesday that it has introduced a function to automatically shut comment sections of its news article site when defamatory posts are detected. Using artificial intelligence, the unit of Z Holdings Corp. will make it impossible for users to view or submit new comments based on the number of posts violating the site's policies and other criteria. The new function was introduced to coincide with the start of the official campaign period for the Oct. 31 Lower House election. A message urging users to take care not to make illegal posts on political news articles will be displayed during the campaign period. So far, Yahoo Japan has deleted the posts it has judged to be defamatory and suspended posts by users who repeatedly violated the site's comment policy.

Z Holdings Corp., the parent of Yahoo Japan Corp. and messaging app giant Line Corp., has reported brisk revenue growth in fiscal 2020 thanks to stay-home demand amid the novel coronavirus crisis. Consolidated revenue for the year through last month rose 14.5% from the previous year to ¥1.2 trillion, boosted by strong online shopping demand, Z Holdings said Wednesday. The company made Line a wholly owned subsidiary for business integration March 1. The move pushed up the revenue by ¥24.9 billion. Operating profit increased 6.5% to ¥162 billion. The value of goods and services sold via the Z Holdings group's e-commerce platforms shot up 24.4% to ¥3.22 trillion.

SoftBank Group Corp. is considering a plan to consolidate its Yahoo Japan internet business with the messaging service Line Corp. Z Holdings Corp., a unit of SoftBank's telecom arm formerly known as Yahoo Japan, confirmed Thursday that it's in talks with Tokyo-based Line about a possible merger, but said no final decision on a deal had been made. Line separately said it is considering such a merger along with other opportunities to increase value. Z Holdings shares surged in Tokyo, while Line's stock was poised to climb. SoftBank Corp., the domestic telecom arm of Masayoshi Son's business empire, holds a 44 percent stake in Z Holdings, while Line is controlled by South Korea's Naver Corp. SoftBank is considering setting up a new company with Naver, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. They may reach an agreement as early as this month, one of the people said.

SoftBank Group saw its operating income increase by 81% over the year to March 31, 2019, driven by its SoftBank Vision and Delta Funds more than tripling their operating income. Here's how it's related to artificial intelligence, how it works and why it matters. Overall, the SoftBank conglomerate took in ¥9.6 trillion in sales, an increase of 5%, from which it made ¥2.35 trillion in earnings before interest and taxes, up 81%, and ¥1.4 trillion of net income. Broken down, both of its telcos in the form of Sprint and SoftBank Corporation contributed around ¥3.7 trillion in sales, with Yahoo Japan making ¥947 billion in sales, and others making up the remaining ¥1.2 trillion. For operating income, the SoftBank Vision Fund hit ¥1.26 trillion, SoftBank made ¥725 billion, Sprint contributed ¥280 billion, and Yahoo Japan made ¥135 billion.

Yahoo Japan says it's going to launch a business that uses its big data and artificial intelligence technologies to support other companies and local governments. Officials at Yahoo Japan say 5 other entities, including Kobe City and Nissan Motor, have joined the venture. A trial is already underway. Yahoo is using AI to analyze a mixture of its own big data and information from the 5 groups. Kobe is aiming to make its ambulance service more efficient.

A recent "fake news" scandal involving IT giant DeNA Co. shows how quickly bogus health information can make the rounds online. According to a 300-page report released last month by a third-party panel looking into the scandal, Welq -- one of the firm's 10 content curation sites and one that focused on health -- totally lacked the awareness that medical information should be handled carefully because inaccuracies can do serious harm to people's health. Instead, Welq worked hard to find an algorithm it could use to mass-produce articles that would dominate Google's search rankings. The site managers also naively believed that, in an era when the most rigorously researched and reported works of journalism struggle to sell, they could strike it rich as long as they kept readers attracted to the site, regardless of accuracy. As a result, some of the stories ended up looking like a bad joke, like the one that said ghosts might cause stiff shoulders.

SoftBank Group Corp. CEO and Chairman Masayoshi Son said Wednesday he will continue to lead the telecom giant for five to 10 more years, saying there are things he still wants to do. The remarks come a day after SoftBank abruptly announced the company's group president, Nikesh Arora, whom Son had chosen as his successor two years earlier, would be stepping down from the post after Wednesday's annual shareholders meeting. "I was planning to invite SoftBank executives and my friends to my 60th birthday party and just when we would make a toast, I wanted to announce that I would pass the torch on to Nikesh from the next day," Son, 58, said during the meeting in Tokyo. Arora wanted to take the helm in a few years but, "I've made a commitment to lead the company at least five more years or maybe 10 more years," said Son, adding he feels "deeply sorry" about changing his plans and causing trouble for Arora. For his part, Arora told shareholders, "This is a decision I respect and even support because he is too young in his heart and his mind to not continue to lead this great company."