At the shareholders meeting on Thursday, Son announced that he was ready to go all in on AI, "win or lose". On Friday of this week, Son went even further, declaring that everything SoftBank had done before was a warm-up to achieve the AI dream, and that super AI could appear within 10 years, with capabilities 10,000 times that of humans.
As Arm's market cap continues to rise in the AI boom, SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son has regained confidence in technology investment. Now, he is eager to make major investments in AI.
At the shareholders' meeting on Thursday, Son claimed that he is ready to bet everything on AI, "regardless of the outcome." On Friday, he went further, saying that everything SoftBank has done so far has been a warm-up for their ultimate goal of creating a "super AI." He predicts that super AI may appear within 10 years, with an ability that is 10,000 times greater than humans.
He predicts that 'super AI' is likely to appear within 10 years, and its ability will be 10,000 times that of humans.
Investment in AI is a must regardless of whether SoftBank wins or loses.
On Thursday, Son expressed his determination to invest in artificial intelligence.
He said that his next big project may be a great success or a complete failure, but SoftBank has no choice but to try. "We need to find the next big thing without worrying about whether it will be a success or a failure," Son said at the shareholders' meeting.
SoftBank's CFO Yoshimitsu Goto recently made similar remarks, stating that SoftBank needs to take on more risk, especially as AI development accelerates.
Son added that while the company lost billions of dollars betting on WeWork, 'the vitality of SoftBank Group comes from seeking new evolutionary seeds, especially overseas.'
For Son, the 'new evolutionary seed' is clearly artificial intelligence.
"Was everything just a warm-up?"
On Friday, Son continued to express optimism about the prospects for artificial intelligence and boldly declared that the group's mission is to help humanity progress by realizing super AI.
Son said: 'SoftBank Group has done a lot of things so far, and these are all warm-ups for the great dream of my AI.'
Son plans to create an era of 'super artificial intelligence.' He claims that the company's chips will support an ecosystem consisting of robots and powerful data centers, which can cure cancer, clean houses, and play with children.
He predicts that 'super AI' may appear within 10 years, and declares that the ability of 'super AI' will be more than 10,000 times that of humans.
Son said that his ambition for artificial intelligence depends on his subsidiary Arm Holdings, the chip design giant.
Arm, a chip design company, rose in value since its initial public offering last September due to the wave of AI. As of now, Arm's share price has doubled from its issue price, and its market cap exceeds $100 billion.
Although SoftBank Group suffered huge losses from failed investments such as WeWork in the past, the group has achieved profitability for two consecutive quarters. The soaring value of investment projects such as Arm is indispensable. At present, Arm has become Son's second 'money tree' after Alibaba, and Son is apparently prepared to continue betting heavily on artificial intelligence.
As of the end of March, SoftBank has accumulated JPY 6.2 trillion (about USD 39 billion) in cash reserves. In a report in February of this year, it was reported that Son is seeking funds of up to $100 billion to invest in a chip company to produce artificial intelligence semiconductors and compete with the current global chip 'leader' Nvidia.
As of the end of March, SoftBank has accumulated JPY 6.2 trillion (approximately USD 39 billion) in cash reserves. According to a report in February this year, Masayoshi Son is seeking up to USD 100 billion in funds to invest in a chip company to produce artificial intelligence semiconductors and compete with the current global chip leader, Nvidia.