
Tokyo Electron fires employee over alleged TSMC trade secret theft
CHENG TING-FANG and LAULY LI
TAIPEI -- Tokyo Electron, Japan's largest semiconductor equipment maker, on Thursday said it has fired an employee suspected of involvement in the theft of trade secrets from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and that the company is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
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Japan Today
8 minutes ago
- Japan Today
SoftBank Group sees better fortunes on surging AI stocks
The logo of Japanese mobile provider SoftBank is seen at its shop in Tokyo. By Yuri Kageyama Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. posted a 421.8 billion yen ($2.9 billion) profit in the April-June quarter, rebounding from a loss a year earlier as its investments benefited from the craze for artificial intelligence. Quarterly sales at Tokyo-based SoftBank Group, which invests heavily in AI companies like Nvidia and Open AI, rose 7% to 1.8 trillion yen ($12 billion), the company said Thursday. SoftBank's loss in April-June 2024 was 174 billion yen. The company's fortunes tend to fluctuate because it invests in a range of ventures through its Vision Funds, a move that carries risks. The group's founder Masayoshi Son has emphasized that he sees a vibrant future in AI. SoftBank has also invested in Arm Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Both companies, which produce computer chips, have benefitted from the growth of AI. 'The era is definitely AI, and we are focused on AI,' SoftBank senior executive Yoshimitsu Goto told reporters. 'An investment company goes through its ups and downs, but we are recently seeing steady growth.' Some of SoftBank's other investments also have paid off big. An example is Coupang, an e-commerce company known as the 'Amazon of South Korea,' because it started out in Seoul. Coupang now operates in the U.S. and other Asian nations. Goto said preparations for an IPO for PayPay, a kind of cashless payment system, were going well. The company has already held IPOs for Chime, a U.S. 'neobank' that provides banking services for low-credit consumers, and for Etoro, a personal investment platform. SoftBank Group stock, which has risen from a year ago, finished 1.3% higher on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after its earnings results were announced. © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

5 hours ago
Ishiba Calls for Revision of U.S. Executive Order on Tariffs
News from Japan Politics Aug 8, 2025 01:09 (JST) Tokyo, Aug. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday that Tokyo is urging the United States to revise President Donald Trump's executive order on so-called reciprocal tariffs signed late last month so that an agreement between Tokyo and Washington is reflected. The reciprocal tariffs on trading partners of the United States went into effect the same day, including a 15 pct levy on imports from Japan. The Japanese government has explained that Tokyo and Washington agreed that the United States will not impose a reciprocal tariff on Japanese goods that are already subject to tariffs of 15 pct or higher and that the reciprocal tariff rate for products with a levy of less than 15 pct will be set at 15 pct, including the pre-existing tariff. "We are urging the United States to immediately revise the executive order," Ishiba told reporters at the prime minister's office. "We'll continue to make strong requests through all channels, including at a ministerial level." Still, Ishiba said, "Japan has confirmed with the U.S. side that there are no misunderstandings between the two nations (over the agreement)." [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press

6 hours ago
Japan Expected to Log Budget Deficit of 3.2 T. Yen in FY '25
News from Japan Society Aug 7, 2025 20:35 (JST) Tokyo, Aug. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan is projected to post a primary budget deficit of 3.2 trillion yen in fiscal 2025, the Japanese government said Thursday. While the projection improved from the previous January estimate of a 4.5-trillion-yen deficit thanks to higher tax revenues, Japan is all but certain to miss its target of achieving a primary budget surplus by fiscal 2025. The latest estimate on the primary budget balance for the central and local governments in the year through next March was presented to the day's meeting of the government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, chaired by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The primary budget balance is an indicator of how much government spending on policies such as social security and public works is covered by tax and other revenues without relying on debt. The target of achieving a primary budget surplus by fiscal 2025 was set in 2018. But the government effectively pushed back the target to fiscal 2026 in its latest basic economic and fiscal policy guidelines, approved in June. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press