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July 08, 2026
 

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TECH

Several countries have been considering ​tightening rules around AI use as well as social media use for children.
WORLD
Jun 11, 2026
Canada moves to ban social media for children under 16 and regulate AI chatbots
Companies could face penalties of 3% ​of global revenue or up to C$10 million ($7.2 million), whichever is more, for failing to comply.
A medical student poses questions to a surgical support software tool that uses artificial intelligence.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 10, 2026
Japan rushing to develop AI tools to aid surgeons
One surgery support software tool analyzes images of organs and blood vessels using generative AI and creates step-by-step procedures and points requiring caution.
SoftBank Group's efforts to secure at least $6 billion through a margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake have stalled after the company lowered its fundraising target.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2026
SoftBank’s attempt to get $6 billion OpenAI margin loan stalls
The development comes just weeks after the Japanese conglomerate cut its initial target from $10 billion.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosts a roundtable meeting for leaders of National Health Service trusts, at No. 10 Downing St. in London on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jun 10, 2026
U.K.’s Starmer to announce social media ban for under-16s in days
Two broad options are being considered: a “blanket” ban on under-16s using social media, or age restrictions on key features of social networks and apps.
An attendee inspects a silicon wafer at the Computex 2026 expo in Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 10, 2026
Taiwan eyes curbs on AI chip sales to China to align with U.S.
The move would mark an effort to address semiconductor smuggling but risks drawing a rebuke from Beijing.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell at a keynote conference at the 2026 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on March 2
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 9, 2026
How SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has achieved Musk’s lofty ambitions
The company’s president has spent 24 years focused on building and selling SpaceX through her engineering expertise and dealmaking ​instincts.
Visitors attend Google's I/O 2026 developer conference in Mountain View, California, on May 19. The event primarily focused on the next generation of artificial intelligence and developer tools.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2026
Google’s AI shift is causing a collective freak-out
The new dark art of search engine optimization is known as GEO (generative is now the first word) and it paradoxically has a more human flavor than the era of backlinks.
OpenAI, founded in San Francisco in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab, burst into the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. It has since restructured as a for-profit corporation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2026
OpenAI makes move to go public one week after rival Anthropic
The company says it has “not decided on timing yet” for any potential debut.
Shareholders in Goldman Sachs Group-backed firm Go sold shares at ¥2,400 apiece, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2026
Goldman-backed Go prices Japan’s biggest 2026 IPO at upper end
Shareholders in the Goldman Sachs Group-backed firm sold shares at ¥2,400 apiece, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 8, 2026
South Korea names first female prime minister in decades to lead AI push
Lee Jae Myung hopes the former Naver CEO will help better use the nation’s tech expertise for future growth and ensure its benefits spread more widely through the economy.
A trading room at Hana Bank in Seoul in April
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 8, 2026
South Korea’s AI impact sparks pressure across government bond market
The nation’s government bonds have lost 7.5% this year in local-currency terms, the worst performance among 44 markets.
A robotic arm manipulates SK Hynix wafers at a summit in Seoul on Nov. 3. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae Won projected strong demand for artificial intelligence and downplayed concerns about a spending bubble.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2026
A trillion-dollar question for memory chipmakers
We are only in the second year of the AI boom, making it too early to know if it will outlast past cycles.
Mega-IPO candidates including SpaceX are expected to face a long road to entry to the S&P 500 Index, after the company that makes the rules rejected a proposal that included relaxing the requirement that they be profitable.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jun 7, 2026
SpaceX and other mega IPOs may wait years to join the S&P 500
S&P Dow Jones Indices’ index committee declined to remove a rule that companies generate positive net income for the past year.
The concept of the working class is evolving as traditional manual labor declines, higher-paying union jobs blur old boundaries and new economic insecurity emerges across both blue- and white-collar lines.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2026
Nobody knows what ‘working class’ even means anymore
What makes someone working class was never really clear — it was something you knew when you saw it.
Digital minister Hisashi Matsumoto
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2026
Japan could end up an ‘AI colony’ if it falls behind, digital minister warns
Japan’s push to keep pace with the global AI race reflects a broader anxiety among governments worldwide, fearful of becoming ever more dependent ​on foreign technology.
Japan and the United States have unveiled a five-year, $1 billion plan to advance AI-driven scientific research, with Japan becoming the first partner in the U.S. Genesis Mission project.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2026
Japan and U.S. to collaborate on AI-driven scientific development
The move is part of a U.S. national project called Genesis Mission, and Japan is the first country to cooperate.
South Korea's labor minister said companies like Samsung that outperform profit targets should consider sharing excess gains with suppliers, subcontractors and their workers.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2026
South Korea minister calls on tech firms to share excess AI profits with suppliers and staff
The government, businesses and unions should discuss how to share “excess profits” and narrow the gap between conglomerates and smaller suppliers, Kim Young-hoon said.
As AI companies compete to build chatbots that resonate with consumers, health has emerged as one of the most closely watched business opportunities.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2026
Meta AI chief sees opportunity in models giving health advice
Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang said the company’s future artificial intelligence models will differentiate themselves from competitors through their consumer health capabilities.
In recent years, 10-minute delivery — popularly known as quick commerce — has upended online shopping in India and Amazon has largely failed to take advantage.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2026
Why Amazon has struggled to crack India
India, fast-growing and democratic, was supposed to be the ultimate proof that the Amazon model would succeed outside the U.S. and a handful of smaller industrialized countries.
TSMC is racing to expand at a time customers from Nvidia to Broadcom are vying for access to its cutting-edge facilities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2026
TSMC warns chip supply won’t meet AI-fueled demand for years
Comments by CEO C.C. Wei suggest production capacity remains a key bottleneck in the buildout of global computing infrastructure.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Prior to launch, Japan ‘strongly urged’ China to reconsider missile test in Pacific
A missile is fired from a Chinese Navy nuclear-powered submarine on Monday.
Suspected Asian fraud ring exec served fresh warrant in Japan
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police have issued arrest warrants for three people, including a suspected fraud network leader, over alleged immigration and residency violations.
Japan might be giving the currency market the silent treatment
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has issued verbal warnings recently using the same language and the same tone, saying authorities “will take appropriate action at any time, as necessary.”
Japanese teen arrested for booting users off streaming service
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly creating a malicious program and canceling subscription accounts on the Bandai Channel.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.

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