Future Tech
Future Tech
Stories on advanced technologies that offer a glimpse into the future.On February 3, 2025, OpenAI, Inc., SoftBank Group Corp., Arm and SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) hosted a special event in Tokyo for enterprises based in Japan. Attended by top business leaders and the press, the session featured OpenAI CEO S…
With the spread of generative AI, power consumption at data centers is rapidly increasing. For example, training GPT-4 requires over 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, the equivalent to the monthly electricity usage of about 55,600 av…
A program that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to autonomously assess and execute tasks on a user’s behalf A program that can execute tasks and learn on its own using AI and data An AI agent is a program designed to autonomously pla…
Almost a year has passed since a powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula, located in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture. The natural disaster caused severe damage to local infrastructure and homes in the area, and SoftBank Cor…
AI is driving transformative change across industries and enterprises, significantly enhancing productivity and convenience. As applications expand beyond chatbots to other applications, such as the real-time control of robots, drones and …
Connected vehicle technology, which enables vehicles to be constantly connected to communication networks, is expected to be essential to next-generation forms of mobility, including autonomous driving. By connecting vehicles to various th…
On December 13, 2024, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) announced it is planning to open “EBC STATION Ai” – an experiential facility that showcases new technology solutions – in January 2025. EBC STATION Ai will be operated by SoftBank and loca…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and Silicon Valley-based Aizip, Inc. jointly developed a machine learning application capable of counting fish in real time with smartphones and other edge devices. The technology was selected for a CES® 2025 I…
To build next-generation infrastructure for the AI era, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is advancing the construction of AI computing platforms and data centers, and, to meet the increased demand for AI-driven data processing while taking ste…
Anticipating an era where AI-based services are ubiquitous in daily life, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is advancing initiatives to deploy distributed AI computing infrastructure across Japan while seeking an optimal balance between central…
In Japan, traffic regulations stipulate that when a vehicle approaches an unsignalized crosswalk with a vehicle stopped in front of it, the driver needs to come to a complete stop before proceeding. This presents a challenge to human opera…
After first announcing its “AI-RAN” concept in 2023 as a foundation for next-generation mobile networks to support a society that coexists with AI, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has made significant progress in bringing its vision to realit…
SoftBank Corp.’s (TOKYO: 9434) “STATION Ai,” a startup support hub based in the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan’s industrial heartland, officially opened its doors on October 1, 2024. Since then new member companies have been suc…
Looking beyond 5G to the 6G era, there will likely be greater demand for communication with and between objects – not to mention more communication between people – and this will lead to an increase in mobile communication traffic. To acco…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is actively conducting research and development for its HAPS business to help bridge the digital divide and provide emergency communications during disasters. After first its HAPS business in 2017, SoftBank has…
In the field of mobile telecommunications, the first generation (1G) system was introduced in the 1980s. Since then, generations have evolved approximately every 10 years, with 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G using new frequency allocations. Looking ahe…
High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) is an innovative technology that uses uncrewed aircraft positioned in the stratosphere, approximately 20 km above the Earth's surface, to provide stable, high-speed and wide-area connectivity. As a tec…
An advanced antenna technology that suppresses radiowave emissions in a specific direction to prevent interference Technology reduces signal strength in specific directions to boost communication precision Nullforming, also known as nullst…
Two employees from SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) received top honors as engineers at companies participating in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) community. In June 2024, Yoshiyuki Hirao was recognized as one of the “2024 …
Due to the spread of telecommuting and other workstyle changes, what people need from offices and buildings has dramatically changed in recent years. Greater comfort for employees and support for diversified workstyles are some requirement…
Anticipating an era where people coexist with AI, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is advancing initiatives to deploy distributed AI computing infrastructure across Japan. While previously it was common to establish data centers in major urban…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is envisioning a future where every vehicle is part of a connected network. Before this vision is realized, however, society will need to grapple with the reality of both connected and non-connected vehicles dr…
Cubic Telecom, a global leader in software-defined connected vehicle (SDCV) solutions, officially joined SoftBank Corp.’s (TOKYO: 9434) group of companies on March 6, 2024. Working with the world’s leading automotive, transportation and ag…
As technology advances, AI is increasingly becoming part of our daily lives. While many are familiar with AI in the traditional sense, newer terms like AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and ASI (Artificial Superintelligence) are enteri…
Following full-fledged commercial rollouts around the world, 5G brought ultra-high speeds, ultra-low latency and massive simultaneous connections to the masses. 6G is expected to bring even more wireless communication advancements and inno…
SoftBank Corp. and University of Miyazaki Develop Power Generation Simulation for Solar-powered HAPS
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is developing an uncrewed solar-powered aircraft for High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) stratospheric-based wireless communication systems. Unlike a satellite, it requires energy to maintain a consistent alt…
While it has been about four years since SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) launched commercial 5G services, SoftBank and the telecommunications industry are already looking ahead to 6G, a mobile communications technology expected to see commerc…
Quantum computers, with their computational capabilities that have the potential to far surpass what traditional computers can achieve, are at the vanguard of information technology. Given their potential, quantum computers could profoundl…
From April 3 to 4, 2024, a pioneering trial took place at Fukuoka PayPay Dome (now MIZUHO PayPay Dome FUKUOKA) to demonstrate a new way to experience baseball game viewing with augmented reality (AR). Get a first hand look at how this adva…
Ginga Miyata, an engineer at SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), was selected for the 2023 Japan AWS Jr. Champions, a program that chooses young engineers in their first to third working year who have demonstrated a certain degree of technical s…
In March 2024, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) announced it is aiming to further enhance its call centers for mobile, fixed-line and Internet communication services in Japan by using generative AI. To achieve this goal, it is launching a join…
While the latest global wireless standard 5G is still continuing to see adoption, 6G is not too far away on the horizon. But what is 6G? And how might it change the way we communicate and live? When the term 6G comes up, many might associa…
On March 13, 2024, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) launched its "Private 5G (Dedicated Type)" service that enables enterprises, local governments and other organizations to build customized 5G networks on their premises with dedicated base st…
The formation of the AI-RAN Alliance, a new collaborative initiative aimed at integrating AI into cellular technology to further advance radio access network (RAN) technology and mobile networks, was one of the top stories of Mobile World …
2024’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting was held from January 15-19 in Davos, Switzerland, and this year’s program featured AI House Davos, a new initiative that brought leaders in industry, civil society, government, the investin…
How can AI innovations be utilized to advance the telecommunications industry, and society at large? To address this challenge, leading technology, industry, and academic institutions came together at Mobile World Congress Barcelona on Feb…
From November to December 2023, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) was there representing Japan, along w…
Keio Research Institute at SFC (KRIS) and SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) established a “Digital Twin Campus Lab” in 2022 and have been collaborating on research and development of next-generation infrastructure, including Digital Twin techno…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), which is developing a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business to offer telecommunication services from the stratosphere, is also a founding and executive member of the HAPS Alliance, an industry associa…
In its research and development efforts to realize next-generation networks, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has been actively researching Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technologies and working to implement them, as evidenced by a Bus Rapid Transi…
From October 8th to 12th, 2023, Internet Governance Forum Kyoto 2023 (IGF Kyoto 2023), the latest in a series of yearly forums hosted by the United Nations, which brings together a wide range of stakeholders to engage in dialogue on all is…
With rapid technological advancements, artificial intelligence, or AI, is now becoming a part of our daily lives. In addition to traditional AI, the term "AGI" is now entering common parlance. At this year’s SoftBank World, SoftBank's larg…
It’s a sad fact that people still operate vehicles while intoxicated, and this continues to bring disastrous results for motorists and pedestrians. Japan is also grappling with this problem, and in an effort to prevent accidents, new legis…
As reported earlier by SoftBank News, BOLDLY Inc., an autonomous driving systems development and service subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), brought a new autonomous EV shuttle called “MiCa” from Estonia to Japan for initial demons…
The Government of Rwanda and SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) announced a groundbreaking achievement in the world of telecommunications on September 24, 2023. Both successfully conducted a test of SoftBank's proprietary 5G communications paylo…
After spending some time in the country, one thing that many visitors to Japan immediately notice is the large number of vending machines. According to Statista, at the end of 2022 there were close to 4 million vending machines in the nati…
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a public transportation system designed to provide a high-capacity bus service that combines the speed and reliability of rail systems at much lower costs. With these advantages, BRT systems are seeing increased …
Masaya Ogino, a data scientist at SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) won a gold medal in the "Feedback Prize - English Language Learning" competition held by Kaggle, the world's largest data science competition platform. The goal of this AI codi…
As President & CEO Junichi Miyakawa mentioned at the earnings briefing for Q1 FY2023 on August 4, 2023, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) views generative AI to be the most important technology for the future. Accordingly, SoftBank is working o…
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and its subsidiary HAPSMobile recently announced they collected crucial data for the development of a next-generation “Sunglider,” an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) designed for High Altitude Platform System (H…