TOKYO - Google launched Japanese support for its AI-driven “AI mode” in Search on September 9th. Users can enter questions or text in Japanese from the search screen on the web or app and receive AI-generated responses. The feature is free to use.
The mode had previously been available in English in the United States and other markets. Google has now added five languages including Japanese, and said Korean and additional languages will be introduced in stages.
Source: テレ東BIZ
A newly formed tropical depression near Taiwan on June 9th is expected to intensify the seasonal rain front lingering over southwestern Japan, raising the risk of warning-level rainfall across Okinawa and the Amami Islands through around June 11th.
Japan's national soccer team arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8th from Monterrey, Mexico, where it had been conducting a pre-World Cup training camp, and held its first practice session at its base camp for the FIFA World Cup in North America.
A prolonged eruption at Sakurajima on June 7th blanketed parts of Kagoshima City in volcanic ash, turning roads gray and prompting long lines of vehicles seeking car washes after a plume of smoke rose 1,300 meters above the crater.
A powerful earthquake struck off Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines at 8:38 a.m. (Japan time) on June 8th, generating tsunami waves across parts of the Pacific, causing building collapses and casualties near the epicenter, and prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue tsunami advisories along a wide stretch of Japan's Pacific coastline before lifting all of them at 4:50 p.m.
A clinic director and a former Peruvian staff member have been referred to prosecutors after the man allegedly performed medical procedures without a license, including an external cephalic version—a procedure used to manually turn a baby into the correct position before birth—at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Fukuoka City, raising concerns about patient safety and oversight in maternity care.
Ranmaru Kishitani, a 24-year-old education entrepreneur and member of Generation Z who has built a public profile by speaking widely on politics, economics and current affairs, says young people in Japan are becoming more conscious of politics as social media brings elections into everyday life and creates a sense that individual votes can still change outcomes.
NTT plans to establish a new investment vehicle, the IOWN AI Fund, to accelerate the global expansion of its next-generation communications infrastructure known as IOWN.
Mercari subsidiary Melcoin, which operates cryptocurrency trading services, announced that it has expanded the range of cryptocurrencies available through the Mercari marketplace app.
Fukuoka City began training teachers in the use of generative artificial intelligence on June 5th, as part of an effort to improve classroom instruction and streamline administrative work across its public schools.
Hitachi has signed an agreement granting it access to "Claude Mythos," the latest artificial intelligence model developed by U.S.-based AI company Anthropic, sources revealed on June 5th.
Gamification is shaking up the way people spend their spare time online, turning passive visits into active adventures.
The latest film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Sheep in the Box, opened in Japan on May 29th after being screened in the Competition section at the Cannes Film Festival, bringing to the screen a near-future story about a grieving couple who welcome into their home a humanoid modeled on their deceased seven-year-old son.
Former Digital Minister Masaaki Taira, who oversees cybersecurity and artificial intelligence policy within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Japan still has opportunities to compete in the rapidly evolving AI sector, despite the dominance of major U.S. and Chinese developers.
