Tech & Innovation
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Blog
Get Ready for “AI-nization with U”: Rakuten Technology Conference 2025 Preview
Mark your calendars! Rakuten Technology Conference 2025 is set to ignite on Saturday, November 15, transforming the company’s Rakuten Crimson House Headquarters in Tokyo into a vibrant hub of innovation. This marks the 17th edition of the annual event which promises an gathering, drawing top-tier leaders, engineers, researchers, and tech enthusiasts from across the globe to collectively…
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Inside Rakuten AI: Hidefumi Watanabe on how AI unlocks deeper consumer understanding
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. In the dynamic world of marketing research, understanding consumer behavior is paramount. Rakuten Insight, a…
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Inside Rakuten AI: Maksim Tkachenko on the path to personalized AI with efficient Japanese LLMs
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. Large Language Models (LLMs) are at the forefront of the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape.…
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Space & AI: Rakuten Mobile’s next frontiers
What happens when satellites, AI, and mobile phones converge? At the recent Rakuten AI Optimism conference, three industry leaders came together to discuss how space tech and AI can reshape telecommunications in Japan and beyond. The panel featured Rakuten Mobile co-CEOs Sharad Sriwastawa and Kazuhiro Suzuki, along with Rakuten Mobile President, Shunsuke Yazawa, taking on the theme Space & AI…
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Transforming cancer care with generative AI
Can cutting-edge AI help humanity tackle devasting diseases like cancer? Rakuten AI Optimism Conference, the company’s flagship annual business conference, offered a glimpse of that future with the panel “Accelerating Cancer Research with AI to Change Lives.” Rakuten’s Taku Okoshi and Yusuke Kaji joined Dr. Toshihiko Doi, Director of Japan’s National Cancer Center Hospital East, to expl…
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On the AI Frontlines: How Rakuten and industry leading startups are shaping the future of tech
AI generated movies. Automated customer service agents. Personalized shopping assistants. These are just a few ways artificial intelligence is seamlessly integrating into everyday life. But beyond the excitement, global AI innovators must come together to address crucial questions: What are the implications of rapidly evolving AI technologies and where will they lead us? How can we shape these tec…
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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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