今日吃瓜

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今日吃瓜
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November 11, 2026
 

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Min Jeong Lee
SoftBank is increasingly seen as a proxy for sentiment toward OpenAI and the broader AI sector. Its shares have plunged more than 50% from their record high in June.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2026
SoftBank logs $7 billion loss after U.S. data center costs swell
Analysts on average expected a profit of more than $800 million.
SoftBank Group and ABB are studying how the Chinese business, which is ABB Robotics’ largest single market, could be separated out, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2026
SoftBank and ABB consider China carve-out to salvage robotics deal
The companies seek a solution after China’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review halted plans worth $5.4 billion.
SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during an event in Tokyo in July.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2026
SoftBank seeks $100 billion from Gulf states for AI, FT says
Founder Masayoshi Son has held early talks with potential investors including those in the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said.
For the three months to June, SoftBank booked gains from its bets on Intel, whose shares more than tripled during the quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2026
SoftBank beats profit expectations as chip bets compensate for muted AI gains
The Tokyo-based technology investor’s net income fell 18% to ?347.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter, compared with a market estimate of about ?166 billion.
NTT Data intends to add roughly 750 megawatts of capacity over the next seven years to meet soaring demand from companies seeking to catch up in artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2026
NTT Data said to eye ?1.5 trillion outlay for Japan data centers
The company intends to add roughly 750 megawatts of capacity over the next seven years to meet soaring demand from companies seeking to catch up in artificial intelligence.
Hironobu Tamba, president of Noetra
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2026
Japan to buy Nvidia Rubin chips to build an AI for robots
The Noetra initiative is part of a series of efforts by the government to lower its reliance on foreign technology and bolster national security.
Masayoshi Son speaks at an annual SoftBank World event in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 14, 2026
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son sees fusion power as key to AI’s future
However, many technological and financial challenges remain for fusion technology to become a viable energy source.
Reliant on Nvidia hardware for AI training and inferencing since its outset, Turing now handles roughly 10% of its AI training needs with Advanced Micro Devices graphics processing units.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Self-driving startup Turing gets AMD backing and adopts AMD GPUs
The five-year-old Japanese startup is adding to its capabilities as it builds toward a commercial launch.
Junichi Miyakawa, the head of SoftBank's telecom unit. The company's new AI-tailored-cloud venture, 49% of which will be owned by its parent group, has the potential to generate profit “on a different order of magnitude,” Miyakawa said in a recent interview.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2026
SoftBank plans to rent AI compute in U.S. at 10-gigawatt scale
The mobile carrier operator and group company will set up the new venture this month, aiming to supply data center capacity at a scale of 10 gigawatts by around 2030.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son dismissed the idea of space-based data centers, arguing that the AI race will be won by computing power on Earth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2026
Masayoshi Son dismisses Musk’s idea for orbital data centers
The main advantage of building data centers in space would be to slash electricity costs, but such expenses comprise a small fraction of total costs.
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
SoftBank profit jumps, emboldens Son to bet more on OpenAI
SoftBank earned a net income of ?1.83 trillion in its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of ?295.2 billion.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, is considering a multibillion-dollar investment in France for an AI data center project, people familiar with the matter says.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2026
SoftBank in talks for major data center project in France
CEO Masayoshi Son is considering a multibillion-dollar investment in the country as part of SoftBank’s broader buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
SoftBank will partner with South Korea’s Cosmos Lab and DeltaX to enable mass production of large-scale battery cells from the fiscal year starting next April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2026
SoftBank plans to make large-scale batteries for AI data centers
SoftBank Corp. will partner with South Korea’s Cosmos Lab and DeltaX to enable mass production from the fiscal year starting next April, the firm said.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is driving a plan to establish a standalone artificial intelligence robotics and data center company in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2026
SoftBank to create and list AI firm Roze in U.S.
The investment firm aims to create and float such a vehicle as soon as this year, though the timing on that could slip to 2027, people familiar with the matter said.
Softbank Corp. CEO and President Junichi Miyakawa
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2026
SoftBank prepares to manufacture batteries for AI data centers
The Tokyo-based group is one of the world’s foremost supporters of AI, having committed hundreds of billions of dollars to investment in data centers, cloud services and startups.
SoftBank Group's mega loan highlights how much debt founder Masayoshi Son is willing for the company to take on as it seeks to secure the firm’s pivotal role in the global AI race.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2026
SoftBank lenders ask more banks to join $40 billion OpenAI loan
The move forms one of the biggest tests yet of creditor sentiment toward the Japanese conglomerate’s debt-fueled push further into artificial intelligence.
Integral AI, which has worked with Denso since 2021 to help teach industrial robots new skills, is holding discussions with other major Japanese companies to pitch them on how artificial intelligence can advance manufacturing processes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 9, 2026
Former Google AI researcher sets up AI robotics startup in Tokyo
The startup is holding initial discussions with Toyota, Sony Group, Honda, Nissan and Mitsui Chemicals to pitch them on how AI can advance manufacturing processes.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (left) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend an event in Tokyo in February 2025. SoftBank’s investment gain on OpenAI stood at an estimated $19.8 billion as of December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2026
SoftBank swings to profit on valuation boost from OpenAI bet
As of December, SoftBank’s investment gain on OpenAI stood at an estimated $19.8 billion.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute Priority Asia conference in Tokyo in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 26, 2026
SoftBank hits the brakes on talks to buy data center firm Switch
The two sides remain in active discussions about a partial investment or a partnership.
Ting Cai, head of Rakuten Group’s artificial intelligence team, has the task of creating AI systems that would augment the company’s many businesses at a minimal cost.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2025
Rakuten AI boss diverges from Big Tech in prioritizing low cost
The Tokyo-based company is expanding its AI team under the stewardship of a Google veteran and building models with a focus on cost efficiency.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
Magnitude 5.7 quake injures dozens in central Japan
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake with its epicenter in Shizuoka Prefecture struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens, shattering windows and disrupting train services, with no tsunami warning issued.
Private high schools remain out of reach for many despite tuition-free policy, survey finds
A survey showed that many families with children attending private high schools are struggling to pay expenses other than tuition.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

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