Tech & Innovation
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Blog
15 perspectives on AI from Rakuten AI Optimism
In 2025, Rakuten’s annual Optimism conference became Rakuten AI Optimism, reflecting a clear shift for artificial intelligence from side topic to center stage. Across the three-day event, speakers tackled AI topics ranging from hard tech to human impact, debating agentic systems, sovereign compute, and how to build AI tools that people can actually use. Below are some of the sharpest takeaways fro…
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Inside Rakuten AI: Zoey Zhao on AI agents and the quest for trust and usefulness
In this series, we sit down with Rakuten AI leaders for a deep dive into the stories behind this transformative technology and the inspiring individuals driving Rakuten’s vision of AI for all. Watch this interview and others in the Inside Rakuten AI series on our YouTube channel. Artificial Intelligence has come a long way from simple chatbots to intelligent agents who can orchestrate wo…
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Japan’s biggest online bank hits 17 million accounts: Rakuten Bank CEO Tomotaka Torin’s take
Earlier this year, Rakuten Bank reached 17 million accounts in Japan – without a single physical branch. “Rakuten Bank is Japan’s largest digital bank in terms of both the number of accounts and total deposits,” President and CEO Tomotaka Torin told the Rakuten AI Optimism conference in July. “We’ve reached 17 million accounts and deposits totaling 12 trillion yen, and both our a…
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Rakuten AI: Our agentic future starts here
At the 2025 Rakuten AI Optimism conference, Rakuten took another bold step into the future with the full-scale launch of Rakuten AI, a new cutting-edge AI agent geared to reshape how users interact with the Rakuten Ecosystem. “We are on a journey of AI innovation,” shared Rakuten Group Chief Data & AI Officer Ting Cai presenting on day one of the flagship event. “We are infusing AI into everyt…
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Rakuten Mobile and U-NEXT unveil the next big thing in mobile entertainment
When Rakuten Mobile, Inc. Chairman Mickey Mikitani and U-NEXT Co., Ltd. Chairman Yasuhide Uno first teamed up to launch an OTT streaming service back in 2002, the very idea of watching movies and TV online was still in its infancy. Now, more than two decades later, their shared vision for digital entertainment has brought the two together once more, with a major new offering for mobile users natio…
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Mickey's Voice
Mickey Mikitani: The age of agentic AI has arrived
“This year, we’ve renamed our flagship event from Rakuten Optimism to Rakuten AI Optimism, reflecting our belief that AI is fundamentally transforming the world.” Kicking off the sixth iteration of Rakuten’s biggest annual business conference, Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani had a clear message: artificial intelligence is not a trend, but a foundational force. “When I started Rakute…
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Ting Cai on how AI and ecosystem offerings unlock telecom growth
Artificial intelligence wasn’t just a buzzword at DTW Ignite 2025; it was the focal point. This year, one of Europe’s premier telecom industry events placed AI front and center with a dedicated AI & Data track. Experts and industry leaders from around the globe gathered in Copenhagen to map out the future of telecom – one powered by the intelligent application of AI. Among the headliners…
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Rakuten accelerates development with Claude Code
Rakuten is using Anthropic’s AI coding agent, Claude Code, to transform software development, enabling their engineering teams to automate coding tasks that accelerate time to market while reliably powering AI features for millions of customers. Key results with Claude Code Achieved 7 hours of sustained autonomous coding on a complex open-source refactoring projectReduced time to market for new fe…
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iGrow: Young Rakutenians empower new investors in Japan
Late last year, Rakuten Securities launched a brand-new asset-building app designed with first-time investors in mind: iGrow. Developed by a team of young Rakuten Securities employees, the app aims to cut through the noise and strip away the complexity of investing for a smoother, more intuitive way to manage long-term financial goals. iGrow represents a major move in Rakuten Securities’ push to e…
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