News On Japan

NEC to roll out homegrown generative AI services

TOKYO - NHK has learned that, starting this month, Japanese electronics giant NEC is planning to offer business services based on its own generative artificial intelligence.

The company says it will be able to securely handle even the most confidential information via domestic data centers.

NEC's AI features a large-scale language model dedicated to Japanese. It uses customized technical terms tailored to each field of business.

Sources say power consumption has been reduced by cutting the amount of processing the software has to do.

NEC says keeping the entire process within Japan means it can offer better data security. It's also considering offering the services to public entities, as well as businesses.

The company plans to create an organization of about 100 people with the goal of popularizing homegrown AI.

Japanese telecom giant SoftBank, internet services company Line, and major IT firm CyberAgent are also developing their own generative AI systems.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Transport disruption from Typhoon No. 7 widened on June 26, with airlines continuing to cancel flights across Okinawa, Kyushu and the Amami region, while JR operators warned of possible suspensions in the Tokyo area and NEXCO Central Japan said some expressway sections had already been closed.

Typhoon No. 7 made its closest approach to Okinawa on Friday morning, bringing stronger rain and wind to the main island, while Typhoon No. 8 and an active seasonal rain front are expected to raise the risk of heavy rain across western and eastern Japan through June 27.

A powerful earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of upper 6 struck off Iwate Prefecture at around 7:30 a.m. on June 25, shaking parts of Aomori Prefecture and leaving Hachinohe, which was hit by a similarly strong quake last December, facing fresh damage.

A powerful earthquake registering a maximum intensity of 6 upper on Japan’s seismic scale struck Aomori Prefecture at around 7:30 a.m. today. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the epicenter was off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, with a depth of about 50 kilometers. The earthquake’s magnitude was estimated at 6.9.

The sale of religious corporations that operate temples and shrines across Japan is drawing growing scrutiny from authorities, who fear the transactions could be used for tax evasion and money laundering, as brokers openly advertise properties and corporate status for tens or even hundreds of millions of yen.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Web3 NEWS

BitradeXは、2010年FIFAワールドカップ優勝メンバーであり、スペインを代表する伝説的ストライカーであるDavid Villa(ダビド・ビジャ)氏が、BitradeXのグローバル・ブランドアンバサダーに就任したことを正式に発表しました。

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said the company aims to become the world’s leading AI company, outlining a strategy centered on four key fields including physical AI, such as robots equipped with artificial intelligence, and data centers.

An international supply chain exhibition in Beijing has put artificial intelligence at the center of its program this year, with manufacturers and semiconductor companies from around the world showcasing products aimed at practical use, including AI-equipped smart glasses that could reduce the need to look at a smartphone.

Osaka General Medical Center in Osaka's Sumiyoshi Ward has begun introducing artificial intelligence to strengthen its system for accepting patients during disasters, using electronic medical records to visualize in real time each patient's risk of deterioration and other key information so hospital beds can be coordinated more quickly.

Online entertainment holds attention because it blends speed, choice, and emotion in one screen.

A Tokyo exhibition is offering a look at 50 possible professions that could emerge in the AI age, from skin bacteria pharmacists who analyze microbes on the skin to ad walkers who use electronic textiles to deliver advertising while moving through the city.

IVS2026, one of Japan's largest startup events, will open in Kyoto on July 1, bringing together entrepreneurs and investors from Japan and abroad, with OpenAI, the U.S. developer of ChatGPT, taking part for the first time.

Taxi operator newmo has opened a data collection hub for autonomous driving in Osaka's Joto Ward, launching what the company says is Japan's first initiative to use ride-share services to gather road data for AI training.