TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said on Friday that the group's mission is to help advance humanity by achieving super-artificial intelligence, which he said will exceed human capabilities by a factor of 10,000.
“SoftBank Group (TYO:) has done many things so far that have all been a precursor to my big dream of achieving super-AI,” Son told shareholders at the group's annual general meeting.
Son often extols the transformative power of new technologies, and he made his name and fortune betting on the spread of the Internet and smartphones.
At a meeting on Friday, he said the group is now making all its efforts to connect robots with artificial intelligence for use in all types of mass production and logistics, in addition to autonomous driving.
He said Son's vision for AI robots would require “enormous capital” and pooling money with partners, because SoftBank would not be able to finance it alone.
Son's reputation as a visionary investor has suffered after several technology startups held by the Vision Fund's investment vehicles have tanked since 2021. Some of his other predictions, such as widespread adoption of “Internet of Things” technology, have not come true.
But the success of Arm, SoftBank's British chip designer, since its public listing in September last year has burnished Son's reputation, as investors piled into AI-related companies.