Weekly AICU

Personalized AI news for Sample Reader

INTERNATIONAL AI CREATOR AWARD 2026 — the second call is now open.
An international award for creators working with generative AI, regardless of nationality, profession or affiliation. 10 fields, in 7 languages, with the support of the Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ).

Final deadline: 15 October (Anywhere on Earth) — 21:00 JST on 16 October.

Entering takes less work than you think. Paste a YouTube, X or AICU certificate URL and we draft the title, synopsis, publication date and key image for you.

Enter your work »

Explore the Award »

🏆 AICU Award 2026 — 48 works entered as of 28 September

As of 28 September, 48 works from 37 creators have completed entry, across 8 of the 10 fields. You can see the works from the first call on the First Penguins page.

Entering
・One entry per work. Each entrant chooses one main field
・The judging fee is USD 10 per work (AICU Checkout)
・The final deadline is 15 October 2026 (AoE) — 21:00 JST on Friday 16 October

🎟 Free-entry code: NAGOYA926
It waives the USD 10 judging fee. Open this link — that is the surest way.
50 places in total, 43 left as of 28 September, valid until 23:59 JST on 30 September. One place per work, and it ends as soon as the places run out.

Judging happens in two rounds
・The first round runs 26 October – 15 November and is open to anyone, free, no purchase. One vote in each of the ten fields. This round decides who stands on the stage, not who wins
・The final round is held live during the ceremony (18–20 November), on the finalists. It is voted by Award Supporters (USD 10), which is a role, not a purchase: supporters agree to the award's purpose and its Code of Conduct, and help the works they find reach an audience. Each vote carries a written critique, published alongside it

If you are considering a partnership, now is the moment
・Applications close 5 October; logo artwork is due 15 October
・Two tiers can be free in exchange for a logo placement, with a commitment in principle by 5 October: Bronze for supporting companies, Silver for public institutions

Partner with the Award, write to award@aicu.ai, or book a conversation.

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・Wed 30 Sept, 19:00 JST — Shibuya, Tokyo.　Dr. Shirai speaks (25 min) at AIFJ Creative Foundry #01, “Hands-on AI video production with WonderClip”. Free, about 50 places, application and approval required (if it is full you will be placed on the waiting list). Bring a laptop and a power adapter. Mainly in Japanese. What Dr. Shirai will cover
・Fri 2 Oct, 19:00 JST — online.　Launch seminar for *AI Video Frontline (AI動画最前線)* on YouTube Live. Free, no registration. In Japanese
・Tue 6 Oct　*AI Video Frontline (AI動画最前線)*, Japan's first magazine for AI video creators, goes on sale (supervised by Akihiko Shirai)
・Fri 20 Nov, 15:50–16:50 — Makuhari Messe.　The AICU Award 2026 ceremony, on the INTER BEE IGNITION stage IG-205

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Full talk published: "XR to Web4 — How We Make Social Good" (XR Tokyo)

Delivered in English at XR Tokyo on 27 August 2026. From XR to Web4, and why "creating people who create" can be a social good. All 19 slides are now published, with translations.

AICU Magazine V28 (Sep 2026)

Our monthly magazine on creative AI. Japanese language.

GPT Image 2.5 is live (start with gpt-image-2.5-flare) and Jev returns a typed answer with a confidence value at POST /v1/jev. Japanese text-to-speech is available too, up to 10,000 characters (documentation).
JPY pack prices change on 30 September (1 USD = ¥180). USD prices do not change.
Beta keys keep working until 31 October; production AP packs go on sale 7 October.

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Read AICU in English

Articles are published in Japanese first. Links in this issue open a machine-translated English view, so you can follow the Japanese creative-AI scene as it happens.