News On Japan

Google rolls out Japanese AI search

Aug 30 (NHK) - Google has rolled out an experimental version of its artificial intelligence-powered search engine in Japanese.

Japan is only the second country to get the AI chatbot, following the release in May of the English version in the US.

"This shows that Japan is an extremely important market for Google," said Murakami Shin of Google Japan.

The US IT giant developed its own generative AI technology. The new search system can accept more complex questions, and then summarizes results from various sources. Links to the reference sources are included to guarantee the accuracy of the information.

The company says the trial will help improve the quality of the Japanese expressions the system generates.

Competition for the Japanese market is expected to heat up, as Microsoft's AI-powered search is already available in a localized version.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Tokyo announced on November 26th that it will overhaul its lodging tax system by replacing the current fixed-rate structure with a uniform tax equivalent to 3% of accommodation fees, a move intended to respond to sharply rising hotel prices.

Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture issued a warning on social media after receiving what was believed to be a photo of a bear spotted in town, but the image was later revealed to be a fake created with generative AI.

A powerful earthquake struck the Aso region of Kumamoto at around 6:01 p.m. on November 25th, toppling a residential gate in Aso City and scattering roof tiles across the road, while rockfalls and damage were reported in nearby areas.

A Ferris wheel at the Expocity commercial complex in Suita, Osaka, known as the tallest in Japan at 123 meters, came to an abrupt stop on November 25th after a lightning strike disabled its operating system, leaving 20 passengers trapped in nine gondolas until the early hours of the following morning.

A large-scale water outage continued across parts of Okinawa on November 25th after a damaged pipeline caused significant leakage the previous day, with local authorities reporting ongoing disruptions as of 11:35 a.m.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Web3 NEWS

Promoting iGaming and sportsbook platforms requires a comprehensive approach. Unlike standard niches, competition is particularly intense, and search engine requirements for content quality and link-building are increasingly stringent. To ensure steady growth in organic traffic and attract the target audience, it is essential to implement proven SEO, marketing, and analytics strategies.

Nvidia maintains an estimated 80% share of the global AI chip market, but a surge of new competitors is beginning to challenge the company’s dominance, reshaping expectations across the semiconductor industry.

Japan is often perceived internationally as adopting Al cautiously rather than rapidly. Yet 2025 is starting to show a different reality.

Japan's digital currency sector has transformed from a Wild West frontier into one of the most carefully monitored markets in the world.

A growing debate over whether major technology companies are overinvesting in data centers has emerged as one of the most closely watched issues in global markets over the past two weeks, as heavy capital spending by Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet triggers fresh questions about profitability, risk management and the long-term sustainability of AI-related infrastructure investment.

A dramatic shift is beginning to unfold in software development as AI transforms programming into an everyday skill that no longer requires specialist expertise, a trend highlighted in a forthcoming set of 2026 technology forecasts compiled by Nikkei BP.

Generative AI continues to evolve at astonishing speed, raising both expectations and concerns about a future in which machine intelligence surpasses human capability, and according to Shota Imai, a 31-year-old visiting professor at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology who is emerging as one of the country’s leading young AI researchers, the question now is how closely AI’s value systems can be aligned with those of humans, as breakthroughs since the arrival of ChatGPT push society into uncharted territory.

ここ数年、日本企業では多くの大きな変化が起きています。その中でも特に注目されているのが AI OCR の活用です。