AIC Wins Five-Year Legal Battle to Regain Stake in AIC Rights
The ruling gives AIC a formal stake in the company that controls its classic properties, potentially shifting the balance of power over those IPs.
Anime News Network
Industry
Anime Expo 2026 Sets New Turnstile Record of 422,000
The record attendance and economic impact show Anime Expo's continued growth, and the 35th anniversary is a milestone for the event.
Anime News Network
NexForge Pitches Building Diagnostic System MICHIDAS at S-Booster 2026
NexForge is applying space positioning technology to building maintenance, a terrestrial industry, rather than aiming for space itself.
ASCII.jp
Anime Expo Panel: Japanese Content Strategy Emphasizes Access Over Content
The panel indicates that major Japanese entertainment companies are now prioritizing distribution and community-building over altering content to suit international tastes.
Anime News Network
bees inc. Representative Yamaad on the Studio's Founding and Business Philosophy
Representative YAMAAD presents bees inc. as a structural response to the lack of production management in indie anime collaborations, making the studio's founding about business organization rather than artistic ambition alone.
KAI-YOU
ZAI Co., Ltd. Launches DPO Interest Survey to Fund Material Waste Reduction Platform
ZAI's DPO push signals growing adoption of direct public offerings by Japanese small businesses seeking long-term shareholders aligned with their mission, rather than traditional bank or VC funding.
ASCII.jp
DataSection Secures Thailand BOI Approval for AI Infrastructure Investment
The approval places DataSection as a participant in Thailand's national strategy to build a next-generation AI and advanced electronics value chain, aligning with the country's push for high-value-added industries.
ASCII.jp
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Appointed Co-Leader of Federal Reserve Task Force on Jobs
The appointment places a leader overseeing major job cuts in a role analyzing technology's impact on employment, a contrast that outlets like PC Gamer and Game Developer have highlighted.
Game Spark, GameBusiness.jp
playknot Launches 'AI Agent Introduction Support' for Marketing Teams
The launch reflects a shift in how companies are advised to integrate generative AI, moving from individual productivity tools to AI agents that are nurtured and assigned roles as part of the team.
ASCII.jp
Nelfin Selected for Toyama's Digi-PoC AI Community Project
This is the first selection under the Reiwa 8 fiscal year of Digi-PoC TOYAMA, applying AI to a specific regional problem-declining community leadership due to an aging population-using a local startup's platform.
ASCII.jp
B Market Builder Japan to Host B Corp Standards Seminar on July 17
The seminar offers Japanese companies direct access to the updated certification framework and practical guidance from the Japan branch of the certifying organization.
ASCII.jp
Auxia Japan Marks One Year With AI Decision-Making Surpassing 100 Billion
Auxia's AI personalization platform is showing measurable business results at major Japanese enterprises, indicating growing enterprise adoption of AI-driven marketing in key sectors.
ASCII.jp
Community Managers Become Regional Coordinators in Business Succession Alliance
The alliance turns everyday community managers into early detection points for business succession, aiming to catch needs that formal consultation channels miss.
ASCII.jp
Meta's Muse Image AI Faces Pushback From Hollywood Over Opt-Out System
The conflict highlights a growing tension between tech companies' default data usage policies and the entertainment industry's demand for explicit consent over likeness rights.
KAI-YOU
Netflix Considers Always-On Channels and Streaming Bundles as Engagement Slips
Netflix is considering a fundamental shift from its long-held focus-and-simplicity strategy to bundle live channels and rival services, in an effort to reverse falling engagement and competition from Disney+, HBO Max, and YouTube.
GIGAZINE
GoalTech Extends Prime Video Ads Support Package Through End of 2026
The extension signals that demand for Prime Video Ads among Japanese e-commerce businesses is strong enough to sustain a dedicated support package, and GoalTech is adapting to the need for lower entry barriers.
ASCII.jp
Japan's Dual-Use Debate Shifts from Military to Civilian-Led Innovation
The shift from defense-to-civilian to civilian-to-defense technology flow signals a new dynamic in Japan's innovation policy, where startups are seen as key to both economic growth and national security.
ASCII.jp
Jensen Huang to Unveil RTX Spark at NVIDIA-Sega Collaboration Event
The event marks a rare public celebration of the two companies' overlapping technical history, which includes a canceled console project and the earliest days of PC 3D gaming.
4Gamer.net
Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno Survives Shareholder Vote to Oust Him
The vote shows that Kadokawa's board and majority of shareholders backed Natsuno's reform agenda over the demands of the company's largest shareholder, Oasis Management.
Anime News Network
ZENFORCE and circlace Join to Cover Salesforce From SMB to Enterprise
The partnership creates rare full-market coverage in Japan's Salesforce consulting space, combining circlace's 600-plus enterprise clients with ZENFORCE's 200-plus SMB base, and signals a strategic bet on AI agents as the next growth area.
ASCII.jp
Kalshi Loses Court Bid to Override New York Gambling Laws
The ruling confirms that state gambling laws can apply to federally registered prediction markets, limiting Kalshi's argument for exclusive CFTC oversight.
GIGAZINE
PlayStation Disc Discontinuation Protest Surpasses 240,000 Signatures
The sustained protest reflects a vocal segment of the PlayStation user base that values physical ownership and second-hand trading, but the decision is driven by market trends toward digital distribution.
Game Spark
AUTON Demo Day to Feature 12 Teams From AI-DeFi Accelerator
The AUTON Demo Day is the first public milestone for a program that aims to fuse AI and DeFi to build a next-generation digital asset market, with direct involvement from University of Tokyo's Matsuo Lab.
ASCII.jp
Chuo Rodo Kinko Adopts Allganize's Alli LLM App Market for All Staff
The adoption shows a Japanese financial institution treating generative AI as a tool to automate routine tasks and shift human effort toward customer-facing advisory and proposal work.
ASCII.jp