Sanae Takaichi, 64, has been elected as the new leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in October 2025, making her the first woman to hold the party's presidency and positioning her to become Japan's first female prime minister.

The 64-year-old defeated Shinjirō Koizumi in a runoff election, securing 185 votes to his 156, and is expected to be formally appointed prime minister by the Diet, as the LDP holds a majority in the lower house.

Takaichi is known for her hardline conservative and nationalist views, including opposition to same-sex marriage, separate surnames for married couples, and an empress regnant, and she supports revising Article 9 of Japan's Constitution to strengthen military capabilities.

“I’m abandoning the phrase ‘work–life balance.’ I will work, work, work, work, and go on working!” she declared in a speech.

Born on March 7, 1961, in Yamatokōriyama, Nara Prefecture, Takaichi is the daughter of a Toyota-affiliated automobile company employee and a police officer. She graduated from Nara Prefectural Unebi High School.

Despite qualifying for prestigious private universities like Keio and Waseda, Takaichi chose to attend Kobe University, where she studied business management, because her parents refused to fund her education if she moved out of home or attended a private institution. She commuted six hours daily to attend university and later studied at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management.

To fund her education, Takaichi worked part-time jobs  In 1987, she was sponsored by the Matsushita Institute to spend a year in the United States as a congressional fellow for Democratic U.S. Representative Pat Schroeder, gaining experience in American politics. Upon returning to Japan, she became a legislative analyst and author, and later worked as a TV anchor for TV Asahi.

Takaichi was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 as an independent candidate. She joined the LDP in 1996 and has been re-elected nine times since.

A protégée of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi held several ministerial roles, including Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications and Minister of State for Economic Security. She is a staunch conservative and ultraconservative, affiliated with the ultranationalist group Nippon Kaigi, and has visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine multiple times.

Rumble (NASDAQ: RUM) and Perplexity announced a strategic partnership on Thursday, to integrate Perplexity’s AI-powered search tools into Rumble.com to improve video discoverability. This collaboration includes a new subscription bundle combining Rumble Premium with Perplexity Pro and an advertising commitment from Perplexity to promote its AI browser, Comet, across Rumble’s ecosystem, including the Rumble Advertising Center.

The integration and related offerings are being rolled out progressively, launching alongside enhanced search capabilities. The partnership aims to address the challenge of content discoverability in a crowded digital video landscape by leveraging Perplexity’s AI technology to better understand user intent and surface relevant video results.

"The partnership includes several initiatives, including the integration of Perplexity’s AI-powered tools to drive more discoverability on Rumble, the introduction of a new subscription bundle combining Rumble Premium with Perplexity Pro, and the promotion of Perplexity’s new product Comet across the Rumble ecosystem, including the Rumble Advertising Center," the video streaming platform wrote in a blog.

Rumble’s CEO, Chris Pavlovski, expressed excitement about deepening Rumble’s presence in the AI space and highlighted the value of Perplexity’s technology for improving platform discoverability.

Perplexity’s Chief Business Officer, Dmitry Shevelenko, noted that the collaboration allows Perplexity to introduce its Comet browser to Rumble’s audience while bringing its AI search capabilities to the platform.

Comet is described as an AI-powered browser that acts as a personal assistant, providing contextual help and intelligent search across any website, learning from user interactions to improve engagement

The bundled subscription offer is a strategic monetization effort designed to boost average revenue per user (ARPU) and create a stable, recurring income stream by combining Rumble’s ad-free, exclusive content access with Perplexity Pro’s advanced AI features

The partnership has generated significant retail investor interest, with Rumble stock experiencing a 421% surge in user message volume on Stocktwits within 24 hours of the announcement, reflecting an "extremely bullish" sentiment.

The partnership is distinct from previous approaches, focusing on a deep integration of a sophisticated AI answer engine rather than generic recommendation algorithms, aiming for a more intelligent and user-driven content experience.