Kioxia Announces English Version of World’s First AI-Designed Manga
Kioxia Corporation today announced that an English version of “PHAEDO,” a new manga created and designed by AI and human collaboration, inspired by the artistic style of manga legend Osamu Tezuka, will be released on June 3 as part of TEZUKA 2020, the first phase of Kioxia’s #FutureMemories brand campaign. PHAEDO, which debuted in February in Japanese comic magazine “Morning,” will be made available for English-language audiences on Kioxia’s TEZUKA 2020 website. PHAEDO is the world’s first1 international manga created through human collaboration, high-speed and large-capacity memory and advanced AI technologies.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005356/en/
"PHAEDO" (Graphic: Business Wire)
The process of developing PHAEDO involved using AI technology to generate the story and create the characters. As a first step, to learn the essence of Tezuka’s work and his characteristics as a writer, AI analyzed 130 manga episodes, written and drawn by Osamu Tezuka, including globally famous titles such as “Astro Boy” and “Black Jack”. Based on this analysis, the AI then generated 129 candidate storylines. As a next step, the AI studied 6000 images and applied transfer learning to generate visuals for the characters.
By analyzing Tezuka’s works, AI was able to generate the physical characteristics of new characters, outlines of new stories, after which illustrators hand-drew clothing and other Tezuka inspired details and writers added dialogue. The project team consisted of engineers from Kioxia, who optimize semiconductor fab productivity and product performance using AI technology, illustrators and writers from Tezuka Productions Co., and AI researchers from Keio University and Future University Hakodate.
PHAEDO is the story of a homeless philosopher and his robot bird, Apollo, who try to solve crimes in Tokyo in 2030. This marks the first time Tezuka’s work has been recreated in 30 years.
Kioxia launched its #FutureMemories campaign last October to commemorate the company’s rebranding as Kioxia. PHAEDO is one of the many ways Kioxia intends to change the world by pursuing the potential of memory to create new value with never-before-seen experiences.
For details about PHAEDO, including videos and interviews, please visit TEZUKA 2020 website.
Notes
1. As of June 3, 2020. Kioxia Corporation research.
About Kioxia
Kioxia is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. The company pioneers cutting-edge memory solutions and services that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. Kioxia's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive and data centers.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005356/en/
Contact information
For more information
Sam Ghirardello (phone: +81-3-5427-7396, SGhirardello@webershandwick.com)
Satoshi Ito (phone: +81-3-5427-7309, SIto@webershandwick.com)
Weber Shandwick (Tokyo)
Natalie Telson (ntelson@webershandwick.com)
Weber Shandwick (New York)
Public Relations
Kota Yamaji (kioxia-hd-pr@kioxia.com
)
Kioxia Holdings Corporation
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Enginzyme and AGC Create Scalable Process for Key mRNA Ingredient12.1.2026 07:00:00 EET | Press release
At the mRNA Health conference in Berlin, enginzyme and AGC Inc. presented a scalable process to produce a key mRNA vaccine and therapy ingredient, N1-methylpseudouridine-5'-triphosphate (m¹ΨTP). The rapid growth of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics has driven significant demand for modified nucleotides like m¹ΨTP, which enhances mRNA stability and expression, while reducing immunogenicity. Enginzyme is a deep-tech company delivering optimized biomanufacturing solutions through cell-free enzyme engineering technology. AGC Inc. is a leading global player in fields spanning from architectural glass to chemicals and life science. AGC Inc. provides services in a wide range of life science fields, from synthetic pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, to biopharmaceuticals and leading-edge cell and gene therapies, as well as messenger RNAs. The presentation in November detailed the latest collaboration between the companies, with a focus on the biomanufacturing of nucleotides for mRNA therapy,
Ant International Partners with Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol to Expand AI Capabilities12.1.2026 03:15:00 EET | Press release
Ant International, a leading global payment, digitisation, and financial technology provider, is collaborating on the launch of Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a new open standard for agentic commerce that works across the entire shopping journey — from discovery and buying to post-purchase support. UCP establishes a common language for agents and systems to operate together across consumer surfaces, businesses, and payment providers to enable commerce. So instead of requiring unique connections for every individual agent, UCP enables all agents to interact easily. UCP is built to work across verticals and is compatible with existing industry protocols like Agent2Agent (A2A), Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), and Model Context Protocol (MCP). “For agentic commerce to scale, it’s critical for the industry to align on a common set of standards. We are proud to have Ant International endorse the Universal Commerce Protocol as the foundation for that future,” said Ashish Gupta, VP
Torq Secures $140M Series D at $1.2B Valuation to Lead the AI SOC and Agentic AI Era11.1.2026 18:59:00 EET | Press release
Torq, the established Agentic AI security operations pioneer, today announced it has closed a massive $140 million Series D funding round, propelling its valuation to $1.2 billion and total funding to $332M. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112510774/en/ Led by Merlin Ventures—a leading cybersecurity fund renowned for its deep access to the U.S. commercial and Public Sector markets—with participation from all existing investors, including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Ventures Partners, and Greenfield Partners, this capital injection is a definitive investment in the future of security. Torq is driving the industry’s critical shift: the complete transformation of the Security Operations Center (SOC) through battle-tested AI Agents at enterprise scale. The new funds will accelerate the adoption of the Torq AI SOC Platform, the only end-to-end solution built on
Biocytogen and Acepodia Expand Collaboration Through Option-based Evaluation Framework for First-in-Class Bispecific and Dual-Payload ADCs (BsAD2C)9.1.2026 14:00:00 EET | Press release
Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (Biocytogen, SSE: 688796; HKEX: 02315) and Acepodia (6976:TT), today announced that the companies have entered into an option and license agreement designed to enable the structured evaluation of bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (BsADC) programs to further advance the development of dual-payload bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (BsAD2Cs). The agreement grants Acepodia an option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license from Biocytogen for two BsADC programs. Under the terms of the agreement, Biocytogen is eligible to receive an upfront option fee and, upon Acepodia’s exercise of the option, additional payments including option exercise fees, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on future product sales. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “This new agreement builds upon our recent co-development collaboration with Acepodia, which has focused on the evaluation and selection
Blockstream Capital Partners Announces Strategic Acquisition of Derivatives Trading Team from Numeus Group, Leveraging Strategic Partnership with Komainu9.1.2026 12:08:00 EET | Press release
Blockstream Capital Partners (“BCP”) today announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement to acquire a division within Numeus Group’s digital asset trading and investment business. The transaction includes the absorption of select Bitcoin focused trading strategies with a focus on yield generation as well as a ten person derivatives trading team led by Chief Investment Officer Deepak Gulati, a specialist in volatility and derivatives markets. Deepak Gulati, appointed Co-Chief Investment Officer of Blockstream Capital Management alongside Rodrigo Rodriguez, previously served as Global Head of Proprietary Trading at JPMorgan, before founding Argentiere Capital, a multibillion-dollar volatility-focused hedge fund. With a thesis that derivatives would drive Bitcoin and digital asset market maturity, he co-founded Numeus Group in 2021 to develop institutional-grade trading, risk management and market-structure capabilities. Komainu, an existing BCP strategic investment, has played
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom