AI, Technology, Policy & regulation, Crime & justice
619 storiesShizuoka city holds parents' briefing after swim coach arrested over indecent act
A male swimming coach at a swimming school in Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture, was arrested on September 28 on suspicion of non-consensual indecency involving an elementary school girl. The city, which had outsourced a junior high scho…
Boston Dynamics names former Amazon AI executive Rohit Prasad as CEO
Boston Dynamics, described by Korean outlets as Hyundai Motor Group's robot affiliate, said it has appointed Rohit Prasad, a former Amazon executive who led work on the Alexa voice assistant, as its new chief executive. The company said the…
South Korea re-designates 92 population decline regions, adding Busan Geumjeong, Dongducheon and Tongyeong
South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 cities, counties and districts as population decline regions on Oct. 7, up from 89 in the first designation five years ago. Busan's Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi's Dongducheon and …
SME Minister Lee So-young unveils startup venture regulatory innovation committee at audit
South Korea's SMEs and startups minister, Lee So-young, said on October 7 that her ministry will create a "Startup Venture Regulatory Innovation Committee" to find regulatory improvements, and set out plans to expand the small-business soci…
AMD CEO Lisa Su to visit Korea Oct. 7 for Gamer Day; AI chip talks expected
AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su will visit Korea on Oct. 7, about seven months after her March trip, to attend an “AMD Gamer Day” event at 2 p.m. at Dragon City in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, AMD said. Su and senior vice president Jack Huynh will attend, …
Trump announces “Super Intelligence Force” AI task force led by Jay Clayton
President Donald Trump announced Sunday the creation of a “Super Intelligence Force,” a federal task force he said will coordinate government efforts to keep the United States leading in artificial intelligence, which he has directed the fe…
Police: bar owner held over girlfriend’s body in Miyagi; staged messages suspected
Police in Tokyo have arrested a 36-year-old bar owner on suspicion of abandoning the body of his 25-year-old girlfriend in mountains in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture, on 28 September. Investigators believe he used her smartphone to send messa…
OpenAI chief Altman says AI benefits justify risks, warns on overregulation
Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT, said the benefits of artificial intelligence justify the risks and negative events that come with it, according to RBC, TASS and RIA Novosti, which attributed the remarks to an intervi…
US Marine arrested in Naha hotel killing; Japan protests, Okinawa governor speaks out
A 20-year-old US Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbery-murder after a 39-year-old woman was found dead at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and Japanese officials protested to the US side. Foreign Ministry Senior Deputy Minister Ta…
France's Mistral releases largest open-weight AI model, Mistral Large 4
France's Mistral released Mistral Large 4, its largest open-weight AI model, nicknamed “Chonk”, on Oct 6 foreign local time, with general availability set for Oct 27. Users can download the parameters, or weights, and customize the model on…
Okinawa police send US Marine to prosecutors over Naha hotel robbery-murder
Okinawa prefectural police arrested US Marine lance corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, of Futenma base, on suspicion of robbing and killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha, and sent him to the Naha district prosecutors’ office on Oct …
Ex-CIA official found with gold bars pleads guilty to $194 million fraud
David J. Rush, a former senior CIA official, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to one count of wire fraud in a scheme prosecutors say cost the federal government about $194 million. Prosecutors said Rush fabri…
Korea's FSS tells 21 securities firms to shift to preventive internal audits
The Financial Supervisory Service met auditors from 21 securities firms in Seoul on Oct 7 and told them to move from audits that catch problems after the fact to preventive checks that protect investors first. The regulator cited repeated v…
Trump approves firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan
The Pentagon said President Donald Trump approved execution by U.S. Army firing squad for Nidal Hasan, who was convicted in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people and wounded 32. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell…
OpenAI safety lead resigns, says company's safety culture is broken
David Robinson, who wrote the safety reports accompanying OpenAI's major model releases, has resigned and published an essay in The Atlantic saying the company's culture is "broken" and its approach to safety is reactive. He cited a July 20…
Okinawa US forces order 48-hour pause and overnight curfew after Marine arrest
The top US commander in Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Watson, issued an emergency statement ordering a 48-hour “training period” for US military-related personnel in the prefecture from noon on 7 October to noon on 9 October, with off-base outings and …
UAE sets phased caps on salt, sugar and fat in packaged foods, fines up to Dh500,000
The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention has begun implementing a resolution that caps sodium, sugar and fat in selected packaged foods, with phased limits running until the end of 2030. The rules apply to locally made and imported produ…
Christa Pike conscious and speaking after failed Tennessee execution, lawyers say
Christa Pike, 50, is conscious and speaking and receiving critical medical care nearly a week after Tennessee's attempt to execute her with the drug pentobarbital failed, her attorneys said Tuesday. They said her prognosis remains unclear, …
Seoul appeals court to rule in ex-President Yoon's free opinion poll case
A Seoul appeals court is due to deliver its verdict on Oct 7 in the political funds case against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, accused of receiving 58 free opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun. The first trial sentenced Yoon…
Defense minister: arts, sports military service exemption to be cut and abolished
South Korea's defense minister said on Oct 7 that the goal is to gradually reduce the arts and sports military service exemption and ultimately abolish it, after controversy over remarks by Asian Games football gold medallists about the exe…