TollBit Enters Japan Through Strategic Partnership with Japan Business Press and BI.Garage

TOLLBIT ENTERS JAPAN THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH JAPAN BUSINESS PRESS AND BI.GARAGE

Expanding TollBit's AI-Era Content Monetization Platform to Empower Japanese Publishers

NEW YORK / TOKYO — 10/16/2025— TollBit, the AI-era content monetization platform that enables publishers to monitor, manage, and monetize AI usage of their content, today announced its official entry into the Japanese market through a strategic partnership with Japan Business Press Co., Ltd. (JBP) and BI.Garage, Inc.

TollBit works with over 4000 premium publishers such as Associated Press, Gannett, and Time. This collaboration marks a major step in TollBit's global expansion, bringing its leading technology and mission of fair value exchange between AI and content creators to one of the world's most sophisticated media markets. Together with JBP and BI.Garage, TollBit will equip Japan's leading publishers to turn AI disruption into sustainable opportunity.

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Protecting and Empowering Journalism in the AI Era

As generative AI reshapes how people discover and consume information, publishers face declining traffic and unlicensed content usage. TollBit's platform addresses these challenges head-on — ensuring that high-quality journalism retains its value and that creators are compensated fairly when their work is used to power AI systems.

"AI is transforming the internet, but it must not come at the expense of the journalism and creativity that sustain it," said Toshit Panigrahi, Co-Founder & CEO of TollBit. "Our mission is to ensure a healthy, transparent content ecosystem — where publishers, creators, and AI companies coexist through fair exchange. We're thrilled to enter Japan with exceptional partners who share that vision."

A Unified Solution for Japanese Media

Under this partnership, TollBit will be integrated into Media Weaver, JBP's proprietary CMS and digital publishing platform. This integration will allow publishers across Japan to activate TollBit's tools without additional engineering effort:

1. TollBit Analytics — real-time visibility into AI-agent traffic

   • Track and analyze how AI systems access publisher content at the page or domain level.
   • Identify the most frequently consumed articles by AI agents, supporting smarter editorial and access decisions.

2. TollBit Bot Paywall — license management and monetization

   • Define licensing terms and per-agent pricing.
   • Block scraping, prevent unlicensed usage, and convert AI access into a direct revenue source.
   • Turn the growing segment of bots and agents into a recurring revenue source, whether for training models or for real time retrieval for AI agents

Together, these modules provide Japanese publishers with the means to monitor AI consumption, protect intellectual property, and build sustainable new income channels from a growing audience of "AI visitors" that cannot be monetized through ads and that do not subscribe to publishers.

Roadmap for Partnership

• Seamless Integration: JBP will complete Media Weaver integration within this calendar year, making TollBit available to more than 100 publishers.

• Industry Adoption: BI.Garage will promote TollBit to the 33 members of the Quality Media Consortium (QMC) and other major media groups.

• Phase-One Rollout: The joint go-to-market effort will target over 130 domestic media brands during the initial launch phase.

Executive Comments

• Satoshi Sugawara, President & CEO, Japan Business Press
  "We have developed our business based on the belief that content produced by media and creators is "mental nourishment" that enriches people's lives and "intellectual weapons" that move society. In recent years, AI has made great strides, expanding our capabilities and offering the potential to pave the way for a better future, while also dramatically changing the ways in which users interact with content. For both content publishers and AI to continue to bring value to society, a system for circulating that value in a sustainable manner is essential. We hope that this initiative will help create an ecosystem in which creators can receive fair compensation and continue to work sustainably, even in the age of AI."

• Akio Niizawa, CEO, BI.Garage
  "Advances in AI are enabling consumers to enjoy more convenient and enriched lives than ever before. The development of an AI information society can be said to represent global progress itself.
  However, media and creators who have provided useful information and content in the internet society are currently not earning sufficient revenue commensurate with the advances in AI. Internet advertising has long been one of their main sources of revenue, but the emergence of generative AI has changed the relationship between media and consumers, calling for new forms of advertising."

• Toshit Panigrahi, Co-Founder & CEO, Novoscribe (d/b/a "TollBit")
  "Generative AI is transforming how people access information, but it must not come at the expense of the journalism and creativity that power these tools. At TollBit, our mission is to ensure publishers and creators are fairly compensated in this new era. AI-driven disruption is happening globally, and TollBit is an ecosystem solution that works across the open web. We're thrilled to enter this important market with best-in-class partners. Together with Japan Business Press Co., Ltd. (JBP) Partners and BI.Garage, we'll equip leading Japanese publishers to monitor AI usage of their content and unlock new revenue streams. Together, we're building a more sustainable future for media where quality content continues to thrive in the age of AI."

About TollBit

TollBit is a platform that enables a fair exchange of value between AI companies and websites. By essentially installing a toll booth on websites, TollBit allows them to monitor bot traffic and monetize their data and content, while offering AI agents and applications an easy way to pay directly for that content. The platform seeks to address the shifting economics of content creation in the AI era by reducing the legal uncertainties of scraping and protecting the health of the entire internet ecosystem.

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