SoftBank's Masayoshi Son pushes for development of artificial super intelligence
Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Group, has revealed his ambitious vision for the future of the company. He stated that the group's mission is to aid in humanity's progress by realizing artificial super intelligence (ASI), a form of AI far surpassing human intelligence. "SoftBank Group has done many things until now that have all been a warm-up for my great dream to realize artificial super intelligence," Son said.
AI to surpass human capabilities by 10,000 times
Son is a known believer in the transformative power of new technologies. He has built his reputation and wealth on the proliferation of the internet and smartphones. He envisions ASI to exceed human capabilities by a factor of 10,000. The company is now focusing all its efforts on combining robotics with artificial intelligence. This combination has applications across various sectors such as mass production, logistics, and autonomous driving.
SoftBank's AI vision requires immense capital and collaboration
Son acknowledged that realizing his vision for AI robots would require "immense capital" and collaboration with partners. He admitted that SoftBank alone would not be able to fund this ambitious project. This comes after Son's reputation as a visionary investor took a hit when many tech startups held by the Vision Fund investment vehicles performed poorly since 2021.
SoftBank subsidiary Arm's success boosts Son's reputation
Despite setbacks, Son's reputation has been somewhat restored due to the success of Arm. The British chip designer has seen significant success since its market debut September last year. This success story has attracted investors to firms linked to AI, indicating a positive trajectory for Son's ambitious ASI vision. ASI is far superior to AGI (artificial general intelligence), which refers to an AI system that can learn, reason, and apply knowledge in ways similar to human intelligence.
