今日吃瓜

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November 12, 2026
 

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ROBOTS

Smart trash cans developed by SmaGO have been installed in Tokyo’s Omotesando shopping district, where they help address the shortage of public waste bins.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 10, 2026
今日吃瓜 search for a better public trash bin — and why robots may help
With public trash bins scarce, Japan is turning to smart receptacles and autonomous robots to make garbage disposal easier.
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 founder Masayoshi Son has listed a plan to buy ABB's robotics unit as a key part of his ambition to play a larger role in the artificial intelligence buildout.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2026
China blocks SoftBank’s $5.4 billion ABB robot unit takeover
The takeover was widely expected to bolster SoftBank’s revenue and profit while it awaits a boost from OpenAI’s public debut.
Jianghao Huo, the chief technology officer of Dreame’s embodied intelligence business, sees an opportunity to use breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and robotics to free people from any task they consider drudgery.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 2, 2026
The woman breathing life into next generation home-help robots
China, which has jumped out to a lead in humanoid robots for factories and warehouses, is now stepping up efforts to lead in the home too.
A Spirit AI's Moz1 humanoid robot serves candied hawthorn on sticks, simulating a cafe as a demonstration, at the 2026 Zhongguancun forum, in Beijing on March 25.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2026
China’s robot makers have mastered the moves. Now comes the race for brains.
Embodied AI, which focuses on software that allows robots to understand surroundings and adapt, is opening a new front in U.S.-China tech rivalry.
A senior manager with Baidu's automotive robot department gives a presentation during the company's Apollo Day in Wuhan, China, in May 2024. Baidu’s ride-hailing platform Apollo Go, has since deployed driverless cars in major cities including Shanghai and Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2026
Driverless trucks show how to keep AI from killing us
Autonomous vehicles have a focused job and a coding trail, with a simpler model that provides a “sanity check” to prevent unsafe maneuvers.
Tesla electric vehicles at the company's store in Colma, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2026
Tesla’s spending on AI and robotics trails expectations, clouding outlook
Heavy spending is needed to help Tesla reorient operations around futuristic business lines, a shift seen as justifying a merger with SpaceX.
SoftBank head Masayoshi Son is exploring the use of AI-powered robots across various industries.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2026
SoftBank is said to weigh buying top U.S. security firm Allied
The potential transaction may give closely held Allied an equity value of as much as $18 billion.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries President Yasuhiko Hashimoto poses with a prototype of the company’s dog-like robot, Home Leo, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 7, 2026
Kawasaki Heavy unveils dog-shaped robot companion for older people
The robot stays close to those it lives with, offers companionship through conversation, watches over them and assists with their daily lives.
Demonstrators protest against artificial intelligence outside Winchester Hall in Frederick, Maryland, on July 18. ?
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2026
AI is the greatest grievance machine ever
The largest problem of all is agency. Apply for a job these days and there is a good chance you will be told “algorithm says no.”
A test run of a suitcase-shaped robot equipped with artificial intelligence to guide visually impaired people was conducted at the Toranomon Hills complex in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2026
Trial of AI robot for visually impaired people shown in Tokyo
The robot is being developed by the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation with the aim of eventually offering it as a rental service.
Mobile robotic trash bins during testing at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 18, 2026
今日吃瓜 busiest rail station tests robot bins
Shinjuku Station is a sprawling transport complex with multiple rail firms that serve more than 2.7 million passengers every day.
A military mechanic with the call sign Chimera watches his fellow soldiers prepare new vehicles for field use in a workshop in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
WORLD
Sep 12, 2026
Behind the killer robots of Ukraine’s new warfare ‘revolution’
In a cramped workshop near the front line in northeastern Ukraine, military mechanic “Chimera” is helping prepare his unit’s robot forces for battle.
MW’s robotic arms with claw-like hands can fold laundry and carry groceries while moving along ceiling-mounted rails.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 11, 2026
Japanese startup bets Iron Man-inspired homes can beat humanoids
MW aims to sell its first robot-equipped home in Tokyo by 2028 and build as many as 10,000 units a year by 2035.
Jack Guo, an engineer who leads the development of Tiangong Ultra, stands among Tiangong Ultra and Tiangong Omni humanoid robots at the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, also known as X-Humanoid, in Beijing on Sept. 4.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 10, 2026
After outrunning Bolt, China’s robot champion races toward real-world work
The goal underscores the harder task facing the robotics industry as it struggles to turn dazzling demonstrations into useful workers.
Students from Kasarani TreeSide Secondary School for the Deaf look at a robotic arm during an interactive session with the Zerobionic Africa team in Nairobi on Sept. 4.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 10, 2026
Kenyan startup makes robotic limbs to sign for deaf kids
Many deaf children in Kenya learn a patchwork of signs, and the local dialect lacks a lot of the technical terms used to teach some subjects.
A humanoid robot takes part in a wushu contest during the second World Humanoid Robot Games at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Aug. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 8, 2026
From dance floor to war: China readies humanoid robots for combat
China’s defense establishment is accelerating research into humanoids’ military uses and planning for their eventual wartime deployment.
A robot penguin swims next to Humboldt penguins at the Adventure World theme park in the town of Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2026
Robot penguins make a splash at Wakayama theme park
Visitors looked amazed to see one of the robots deftly move its flippers to change direction and dive deeper into the water as it swam next to real penguins.
An Astribot humanoid robot demonstrates serving tea at an exhibition in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on April 16. China's weak social safety net makes workers very vulnerable to AI-driven displacement.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2026
China’s biggest weakness on AI
China’s inability to guarantee protection from labor displacement has become a core weakness in the AI race.
A demonstrator operates a humanoid robot during the launch of Galbot's unmanned robot convenience store in Hong Kong on Aug. 31.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2026
Tech pilgrims flock to China as global innovation race heats up
Investors and entrepreneurs are paying thousands of dollars for rare access to Chinese factories, seeking a front-row seat to what could be the next technological revolution.
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.
Jensen Huang’s woes evoke sympathy and disbelief in his birthplace Taiwan
Hsiao Kui-yu, 68, owner of Yuchan Candied Fruit, stands in front of photographs of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang displayed at the shop, which Huang frequently visits during trips to Taiwan, in Taipei on Tuesday.
G7 diplomats speak out on Taiwan as China ramps up military drills
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attends a working lunch focused on international crises and challenges during the Group of Seven foreign ministers' summit at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris on Monday.
今日吃瓜 Rapidus is said likely to miss mass production deadline
The Rapidus Analysis Center and the IIM-1 Innovative Integration for Manufacturing foundry in Chitose, Hokkaido
‘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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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