News

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will support research and development in the field of physical AI that combines robotics and AI technology to enhance the competitiveness of Japan's manufacturing industry, where it has a strong advantage. The new company, named "Noetra" (formerly Japan AI Foundation Model Development), is established with SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony Group at its core. In addition to a high level of Japanese language understanding and reasoning ability, the company will also focus on developing foundational models capable of recognizing images, videos, audio, and physical spaces. The company has been selected for a support project under the "New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization" (NEDO), which is affiliated with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Odaily reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is publicly soliciting opinions on "novel exchange-traded funds (novel ETFs)" to evaluate their regulatory framework and market rule design. The SEC stated in its document that it continues to monitor the market's interest in various innovative products, including funds related to crypto assets, investment opportunities based on blockchain technology, and new types of financial derivatives such as "event contracts." This request for comment is seen as a further early-stage exploration by the SEC regarding the boundaries of ETF regulation, especially as demand continues to grow for crypto ETFs, on-chain asset exposure products, and structured derivatives. Regulators are seeking a new balance between innovation and risk control. (The Block)

Glonghui July 1 — Honda Motor has entered the euro bond market for the first time, planning to issue 2.5 billion euros in bonds, with final investor demand exceeding 10.3 billion euros. The company is issuing 3-year, 6-year, and 10-year senior unsecured bonds, with the short-term bonds receiving the most market interest. The issue pricing for the short-term bonds was lowered by about 30 basis points compared to the initial price guidance. Japanese companies are increasing their overseas financing efforts, and Honda's debut euro bond issue coincides with this trend. Since the beginning of this year, the total amount of euro-denominated bonds issued by Japanese companies has reached approximately 11.67 billion euros.