SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said on Friday the group aims to become the world’s top platform provider for artificial super intelligence within the next decade, signaling a bold new direction for the Japanese tech giant.
Speaking at SoftBank’s annual shareholder meeting, Son described his vision of positioning SoftBank at the centre of the artificial super intelligence (ASI) industry - an era he believes will be dominated by platforms far more powerful than current AI models.
“I want SoftBank to become the organiser of the industry in the ASI era,” Son said, comparing his ambition to the platform dominance of Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
Son defines ASI as Artificial Intelligence that surpasses human intelligence by a factor of 10,000, and he has resumed aggressive investments to make SoftBank a key player in the space. These moves include the $6.5 billion acquisition of U.S. chip designer Ampere and up to $40 billion in underwritten investment for OpenAI, where SoftBank has already committed $32 billion since autumn 2024.
“I’m all in on OpenAI,” Son said, expressing regret over not investing earlier and suggesting he expects OpenAI to eventually go public.
SoftBank’s renewed risk appetite comes after years of retrenchment following major losses in tech startups through its Vision Fund. The tide turned with the successful 2023 IPO of Arm, boosting SoftBank’s balance sheet and enabling further strategic investments.
Earlier this month, the group also raised $4.8 billion through a partial sale of its stake in T-Mobile, further strengthening its financial position.
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