Hello from Yifan, sending this week’s #techAsia from Nikkei headquarters in Tokyo.
As much as I’m enjoying the warmer-than-expected weather in the Japanese capital and hoping to see some early cherry blossoms, I do feel I’m missing out on the increasingly urgent debate in Silicon Valley over what role artificial intelligence should play in warfare.
In recent days, the sidewalks near Anthropic’s office in San Francisco have been covered with chalk messages showing support for the AI company as it clashes with the government over the military use of its Claude technology. President Donald Trump said he is directing the government to stop working with Anthropic, and the Pentagon has declared the startup a supply-chain risk. The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the two sides were back in talks.