Artificial Intelligence

Japan will boost artificial-intelligence capabilities to guide unmanned military equipment as the nation's Self-Defense Forces cope with manpower shortages, according to an outline of policy guidelines to be finalized next month.

SoftBank Group on Monday launched an office-use vacuum robot powered by artificial intelligence, envisioning the product as a key to expanding its robotics operations.

An experiment will be held using AI and other new technologies to predict traffic jams and visitor congestion around Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site on Miyajima island in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Japanese industrial robotics company Fanuc is zeroing in on edge computing, where data is processed as close to the source as possible, Chairman and CEO Yoshiharu Inaba said in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The European Union is seeking Japan's cooperation on setting rules for artificial intelligence, potentially covering everything from privacy to preventing the creation of killer robots, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen told Nikkei in an exclusive interview.

China's Huawei Technologies is aiming for a younger set of Japanese customers with its newest smartphone, which comes with artificially intelligent cameras and a relatively modest price tag.

Sony has established a set of ethical guidelines for handling artificial intelligence technologies, following the lead of Google and Microsoft."Sony has to show a clear standpoint on the technology," said Hiroaki Kitano, chief executive at Sony Computer Science Laboratories.

They come from very different worlds, yet have remarkably similar tales to tell. One hails from Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, while the other was brought up in the shadows of the Merendon mountains in the Sula Valley of northwestern Honduras.

Do virtual YouTubers dream of online controversy? Maybe not but they sure are good at courting it.One of the most buzzed about developments in online culture in Japan over the past 12 months has been a boom in virtual YouTubers, animated characters operating their own channels, upon which they behave much like their human counterparts. They play video games, partake in memes and provide meta commentary on their existence.

An unmanned, AI-equipped store located on a train platform at JR Akabane Station in Kita Ward, Tokyo, was unveiled to reporters on Tuesday ahead of an about two-month trial period that started Wednesday.