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July 04, 2026
 

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Echo Wang
SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is launched from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, near Brownsville, Texas, in November 2023
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2026
Musk’s SpaceX prices record $75 billion IPO at $135 a share
The pricing caps off a monthslong effort that realized Elon Musk’s most ambitious project yet even ​as some analysts question whether its lofty valuation is justified.
The tension between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is the driving force in today’s biggest technological revolution.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2026
Anthropic v. OpenAI: Behind the bitter battle for the future of AI
The companies are racing to market, viewing a first listing as a way to frame how investors will value the companies and establish their CEO as the leading voice of AI.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas, on Oct.13, 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2026
SpaceX IPO filing lays bare losses and Musk control as it stakes future on AI
Much of its outlook relies on SpaceX dominating technologies and markets that do not yet exist — from Mars missions to AI data centers in space.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks at a news conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2018.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 21, 2026
Musk’s SpaceX tries to woo Wall Street with analyst meetings this week, sources say
The company is looking to raise $75 billion, in what would be the world’s ​biggest-ever initial public offering, with executives targeting a late June trading debut.
SpaceX intends to earmark a large portion of shares for retail ​investors in its highly anticipated initial public offering planned for later this year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 7, 2026
SpaceX lays out IPO details, targets early June roadshow, sources say
SpaceX is rewriting the initial public offering playbook with a large portion of shares earmarked for retail investors.
A SpaceX Starship lifts off during its fifth flight test, in Boca Chica, Texas, on Oct. 13, 2024. Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence startup, xAI.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 3, 2026
SpaceX acquires xAI in record deal as Musk looks to unify AI and space ambitions
The transaction values SpaceX at $1 trillion, and xAI at $250 billion.
SpaceX's Starship lifts off during a flight test, in Boca Chica, Texas, in October 2024. SpaceX combining with xAI would bring Elon Musk’s rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social media platform and Grok AI chatbot under one roof.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2026
SpaceX in merger talks with other Musk companies ahead of IPO
The plan would give fresh momentum to SpaceX’s effort to launch data centers into orbit as Elon Musk battles for supremacy in the artificial intelligence race.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son attends an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in February.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 20, 2025
SoftBank races to fulfill $22.5 billion funding pledge to OpenAI by year-end
The “all-in” bet on OpenAI is among the biggest yet by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, as he seeks to improve his firm’s position in the race for artificial intelligence.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off during a test flight in Starbase, Texas, on Oct. 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2025
Musk’s Mars mission adds risk to red-hot SpaceX IPO
SpaceX is targeting a listing next year that could raise more than $25  billion at a valuation exceeding $1  trillion.
OpenAI is considering filing with securities regulators as soon as the second half of 2026, some people familiar with the matter said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 30, 2025
OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation
The company appears eager to tap public markets now that a complex restructuring that reduces its reliance on Microsoft is complete.
People attend a U.S. naturalization ceremony for new citizens in Savannah, Georgia, on July 29, 2024. The new worker visa fees could mean fewer talented immigrants coming to the U.S., who often go on to launch new firms, analysts say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2025
Trump’s new visa fees spur offshoring talks and hiring turmoil
While the $100,000 fee applies only to new applicants, the confusion around its roll-out and steep cost are leading companies to pause recruitment, budgeting and workforce plans.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs during a visit to the world headquarters of Snap-On, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on April 18, 2017.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2025
H-1B workers abroad race to U.S. as Trump order sparks dismay and confusion
Tech companies and banks sent urgent memos to employees, advising them to return before a deadline of 12:01 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time Sunday.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair gestures during the Axios BFD event in New York on Oct. 12, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024
How OnlyFans turned into a global empire bent on redefining porn
For all its ambition and influence, the inner workings of OnlyFans remain opaque.
SoftBank, which currently owns 75% of Arm, is in talks to acquire the 25% stake in the firm it does not directly own from Vision Fund 1, according to sources.
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2023
SoftBank in talks to buy Vision Fund’s 25% stake in Arm
The move would potentially deliver a win for investors who have waited years for strong returns.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 1, 2023
Online migrant celebrities bring wave of Chinese nationals to U.S. border
The difficulty of obtaining U.S. visas and the economic aftershocks of China’s COVID-19 lockdowns have led to a sharp increase in migrants from China presenting at the border with Mexico.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 20, 2021
No pain, no gain for big funds hunting the next Tesla
The search is turning up plenty of clunkers as well as potential superstars.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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