SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Sets Lofty AI Ambitions
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son announced on Friday that the company's ultimate goal is to advance humanity by creating artificial super intelligence (ASI), which he believes will be 10,000 times more capable than humans.
"SoftBank Group has done many things until now that have all been a warm-up for my great dream to realize artificial super intelligence," Son stated during the group's annual general meeting.
Masayoshi Son is renowned for emphasizing the transformative power of new technologies. He has built his reputation and fortune by investing in the growth of the internet and smartphones. During Friday's meeting, he revealed that the company is now focusing all its efforts on combining robotics with artificial intelligence for mass production, logistics, and autonomous driving.
Son clarified that this vision would require "immense capital" and that SoftBank would need to collaborate with partners to fund these ambitious projects. SoftBank alone cannot finance these endeavors.
Son's reputation as a visionary investor faced challenges after several tech startups backed by the Vision Fund investment vehicles faltered since 2021. Some of his predictions, such as the widespread adoption of "internet of things" technology, have not yet come true. However, the success of SoftBank's subsidiary, Arm, a British chip designer, has boosted Son's reputation. Since going public in September last year, Arm's share price has surged and attracted investors focused on AI-linked companies.
Despite the growing gap between the value of SoftBank's assets and its market capitalization, Son announced that while the company is always ready to buy back its own shares, it has no immediate plans to do so. He also mentioned the possibility of taking SoftBank private if its share price falls considerably below its true value, noting that he has contemplated this option many times.
