SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son believes that artificial intelligence (AI) that’s 10,000 smarter than humans will be a reality within ten years.
In his speech at SoftBank’s annual general shareholders meeting in Tokyo, Son focused on AI and its potential impact globally. He told the attendees that his sole purpose in life is to pioneer the era of artificial superintelligence (ASI) and that SoftBank’s investments in the future will reflect this goal.
Son believes that artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is likely to be ten times smarter than humans, will be here in the next three to five years. While a few thought leaders share his view—Elon Musk says AGI will arrive by 2026—most experts say it would take much longer, with most predicting at least another two decades.
But it’s ASI that Son is most excited about. He told shareholders that ASI would lead to a “big improvement” in human lifestyle. He wants to position SoftBank as a pioneer in this new technology, which he described as “the evolution of humanity.”
Son, who founded the Japanese investment conglomerate 42 years ago, believes that delivering ASI is his sole purpose in life.
“SoftBank was founded for what purpose? For what purpose was Masa Son born? It may sound strange, but I think I was born to realize ASI. I am super serious about it,” he told the shareholders.
SoftBank’s biggest success was a $20 million investment in Alibaba (NASDAQ: BABAF) in 2000 that ballooned to $60 billion when the Chinese giant went public in 2014. As AI blew up, SoftBank invested in several AI companies, most notably British chipmaker Arm (NASDAQ: ARM), which it bought for $32 billion. Arm went public last year and is today valued at $168 billion.
However, despite the successes, Son revealed that he regrets lost opportunities in AI, most famously his sale of a 5% stake in Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) in 2019. While he booked $3.3 billion in returns, this stake would now be worth over $150 billion as the American chipmaker has burgeoned into a $3 trillion behemoth.
Son further revealed that he was intent on investing in OpenAI, but Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) beat him to the punch. The ChatGPT maker is worth $80 billion today.
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