Google invests an undisclosed sum in Sakana AI, valued at $2.6B in November 2025, to boost Gemini's presence in Japan; Sakana AI gains access to Google's LLMs
Google joined Japanese startup Sakana AI's roster of backers in a move that bolsters chatbot Gemini's presence in a country eager …
Sources: Masayoshi Son and the White House plan to build “Trump Industrial Parks” in the US to produce AI infrastructure parts, funded by the Japan trade deal
SoftBank billionaire seeks to build ‘Trump Industrial Parks’ on federal land, using hundreds of billions of capital from the Japan trade deal
How Jensen Huang, who engaged little in politics until 2024, is using his newfound star power to strike deals in Europe, the Middle East, Japan, and elsewhere
Financial Times : X: @pawlega and @zephyr_z9 X: @pawlega : “People are starting to feel now that they have become critically dependent not just on Nvidia, but almost on Jensen himself,” says one exec...
A look at Tokyo-based Nittobo, currently the only supplier in the world of the highest-end “T-glass”, a material essential for making high-powered AI servers
Nikkei Asia : X: @nikkeiasia X: @nikkeiasia : Why are top executives from Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft visiting Japan? To secure supplies of a little-known ingredient vital for their artificial intellig...
SoftBank commits $3B annually for itself and its subsidiaries to use OpenAI's tech, and launches SB OpenAI Japan to market OpenAI's enterprise tech in Japan
Welcome to Cautious Optimism, a newsletter on tech, business, and power. SoftBank Group Corp. : OpenAI and SoftBank Group Partner to Develop and Market Advanced Enterprise AI The Asahi Shimbun : SoftB...
Q&A with Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing President Yoshihiro Yamaguchi on shipping 20B+ image sensors, a new manufacturing plant in Kumamoto, Japan, and more
Nikkei Asia :
A profile of Rapidus, which is attempting to prove that bespoke chips can be efficiently and profitably produced in small quantities rather than large batches
Financial Times : X: @tanarrowz and @workmj X: @tanarrowz : In Dec'24, Rapidus will take delivery of an EUV machine from ASML, vital for manufacturing the 2nm chips the company is targeting for trial...
SoftBank's telecom unit plans to build an AI supercomputer in Japan using Nvidia's DGX B200 platform, and a follow-up effort featuring the Grace Blackwell chip
Nvidia CEO regrets not taking the loan Brian Caulfield / NVIDIA : ‘Every Industry, Every Company, Every Country Must Produce a New Industrial Revolution,’ Says NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang at AI Summit Jap...
JPMorgan, Visa, and other financial firms join Project Agora, a blockchain-based project by Bank for International Settlements to overhaul cross-border payments
- Seven central banks from US, euro area, Japan also particiapte — Bank for International Settlements runs project with IIF
Nvidia will provide the software for Japan's ABCI-Q, a hybrid supercomputer that offers quantum computing capability for drug research and other uses
U.S. chip designer to provide software for nation's quantum computing initiative — TOKYO — Japan's government-backed technology institute …