SoftBank aims to become leading ‘artificial super intelligence’ platform provider

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son on Friday said he wants the Japanese technology investment group to become the biggest platform provider for “artificial super intelligence” within the next 10 years.

“We want to become the organiser of the industry in the artificial super intelligence era,” Son told shareholders at the group’s annual shareholder meeting.

Son likened his aim to the position of dominant technology platform providers such as Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet’s Google, which benefit from a “winner takes all” dynamic.

At previous public appearances Son has described artificial super intelligence as AI technology that is able to exceed human capabilities by a factor of 10,000.

SoftBank has returned to making the aggressive investments that made Son’s name, such as an early bet on Alibaba, but that at times spectacularly backfired, like its massive investment in failed shared office provider WeWork.

Its AI-related deals this year include acquiring US semiconductor designer Ampere for US$6.5 billion and the underwriting of up to US$40 billion of new investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

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Son said SoftBank‘s total agreed investment in OpenAI now stood at US$32 billion since first investing in Autumn 2024 and that he regretted not investing earlier. He also said he expected OpenAI to eventually list publicly.

“I’m all in on OpenAI,” Son said.

SoftBank had owned around 5 per cent of Nvidia until it sold the stake in 2019, before ChatGPT generated a surge in AI interest at the end of 2022. Nvidia now dominates AI chipmaking and has become one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Son’s latest spending spree follows years of retrenchment after the high-growth tech startups into which SoftBank had invested billions of dollars through its Vision Fund investment vehicles crashed in value from 2022.

Fortunes changed again when SoftBank raised some US$5 billion listing chip designer Arm in September 2023. The rise in the British firm’s share price since has boosted the group’s assets, against which SoftBank can take out debt to fund new investment.

Son said SoftBank was committed to prudent investment and that, throughout the peaks and troughs, SoftBank has maintained the financial resources and user base such that it can take risks at times.

Earlier in June it raised US$4.8 billion from the sale of some shares in T-Mobile. REUTERS