Tech & Innovation
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Blog
Behind the scenes of innovation: The bold moves igniting the AI revolution
Bjorn Laukli, Head of Technology, Rakuten International The ongoing fascination with artificial intelligence (AI) is driven by its potential to revolutionize businesses and daily life, yet the most transformative advancements being made today often go unnoticed. These advancements are fueled by the diligent efforts of companies integrating AI solutions at an unprecedented pace and scale. Despite c…
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AI is coming, ready or not: Mickey Mikitani at Harvard Business School
“If you don’t use AI, whether you’re a small company or a big one, it is going to be very difficult to survive. Your competition is going to be 20-30% more efficient. Sooner or later, you will be in a very difficult position.” Rakuten CEO Mickey Mikitani recently returned to Harvard Business School to chat with HBS professor and Rakuten Group board member Dr. Tsedal Neeley for the Leading with AI…
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Rakuten & OpenAI: What’s next in GenAI?
OpenAI has officially landed in Japan. A strategic AI partner of Rakuten from fall 2023, the company behind ChatGPT has set up shop in Tokyo – their first office in Asia. Rakuten and OpenAI marked the occasion by hosting an event at Rakuten Crimson House, which kicked off with a lecture from OpenAI Solutions Engineer Evan Weiss for Rakuten’s e-commerce and travel consultants. During the talk, Weis…
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Revolutionizing enterprise SaaS and AI: Insights from Rakuten Product Conference 2024
On May 21 and 22, Rakuten Product Conference 2024 brought together tech luminaries, engineers, researchers and enthusiasts from across the globe to discuss two of the hottest topics in technology: enterprise SaaS (Software as a Service) and artificial intelligence. Hosted at Rakuten India’s office in the bustling heart of Bengaluru and streamed to a global audience, the conference underscored Raku…
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This is what Japan thinks about AI
From bullet trains to futuristic restrooms, Japan has a reputation for being bullish on new tech. But what about AI? The recent rise of AI tools such as ChatGPT has sparked debate around the world, with some praising AI’s potential for boosting efficiency, and others raising concerns about its potential effects on human society. To understand Japan’s perspective on AI, Rakuten’s…
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Reimagining innovation: Looking forward to Rakuten Product Conference ’24
Innovation is rarely simply the byproduct of individual brilliance. More often, it is the result of conversations — conversations that challenge, inspire and prompt individuals to rise above the ordinary. Rakuten Product Conference, the flagship technology symposium from Rakuten India, is held each year with this ethos at its core. Slated to take place virtually on May 21 and 22, Rakuten Pro…
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Tech Experts discuss Rakuten’s unique AI approach at MWC Barcelona 2024
Continuing its dominant run as the telco industry’s buzziest topic, AI was a key theme throughout Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona. Throughout the four-day event, Rakuten’s booth was a hub for AI discussions, demos and forward-looking insights. Headlining the company’s booth theater on Day 3 was a special AI Showcase featuring three experts from Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Symphony and th…
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Kobo in color: Digital reading innovator unveils first-ever color eReaders
The newly announced Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara Colour blend the vibrancy of life and literature in two eye-catching models. Rakuten Kobo has announced its first-ever color E Ink eReaders with the new Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara Colour, offering a new element to the digital reading experience Kobo fans already know and love. Kobo Libra Colour and Kobo Clara Colour feature a Kobo-optimize…
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Rakuten’s Open LLM Tops Performance Charts in Japanese
Japan’s open-source AI community is taking a major leap forward, thanks to the groundbreaking efforts of Rakuten’s AI engineers and scientists.Last week, Rakuten’s AI team unveiled a suite of large language models (LLMs) with exceptional performance in Japanese*1. Seven billion parameter models are the result of training on top of Mistral-7B, another open-source model with high p…
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