✨ Masayoshi Son, SoftBank: AI's True Reward Will Be Human Happiness
posted 3 Oct 2024
During the annual SoftBank Group Corp. forum, Masayoshi Son spoke about the potential for personal AI agents in the next 2-3 years. These AI agents will monitor their users' health, handle routine tasks like shopping and booking services, babysit children, and even manage family investments efficiently.
While Son didn’t specifically mention the OpenAI investment at the forum, he did commend the latest ChatGPT 01 model for its remarkable reasoning abilities. He highlighted that the updated bot can find solutions to highly complex, specialized questions within just 45 seconds.
Masayoshi Son believes that the continued growth of AI will demand more connectivity (high-performance cables, ports) and semiconductors. SoftBank has been investing heavily in these sectors through its chip-manufacturing division, Arm Holdings Plc.
In the near term, SoftBank plans to inject an additional $100 billion into chip manufacturing, data centers, and robotics related to AI. Son positions SoftBank as a key player within Japan’s AI ecosystem, having already equipped its new Japanese data centers with Nvidia Corp. GPUs.
Though Son’s outlook is optimistic, he had warned SoftBank shareholders in early 2024 that his ambitious AI ventures could either lead to great success or considerable failure.
SoftBank’s increased focus on Arm Holdings Plc reflects the fallout from some of Son’s earlier missteps in investing in external AI startups.
Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Source: bnnbloomberg.ca
Within the next few years, we are expected to see the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which can reason and tackle complex challenges. AGI is the main focus of industry leaders like OpenAI and Meta.
We can design AI personal agents who understand your emotions and whose greatest reward is your happiness,Masayoshi Son remarked.
SoftBank continues to make significant investments in AI. In the most recent fundraising round for OpenAI, Son invested $500 million, making up almost 8% of the total $6.6 billion raised by Sam Altman’s startup.
While Son didn’t specifically mention the OpenAI investment at the forum, he did commend the latest ChatGPT 01 model for its remarkable reasoning abilities. He highlighted that the updated bot can find solutions to highly complex, specialized questions within just 45 seconds.
Masayoshi Son believes that the continued growth of AI will demand more connectivity (high-performance cables, ports) and semiconductors. SoftBank has been investing heavily in these sectors through its chip-manufacturing division, Arm Holdings Plc.
In the near term, SoftBank plans to inject an additional $100 billion into chip manufacturing, data centers, and robotics related to AI. Son positions SoftBank as a key player within Japan’s AI ecosystem, having already equipped its new Japanese data centers with Nvidia Corp. GPUs.
Though Son’s outlook is optimistic, he had warned SoftBank shareholders in early 2024 that his ambitious AI ventures could either lead to great success or considerable failure.
SoftBank’s increased focus on Arm Holdings Plc reflects the fallout from some of Son’s earlier missteps in investing in external AI startups.
