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SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son has articulated a bold vision for the future, stating that the group’s mission is to aid humanity’s progress by realizing artificial super intelligence (ASI). He envisions ASI exceeding human capabilities by a factor of 10,000.
This ambitious goal, according to Son, is the culmination of the various initiatives SoftBank has undertaken so far, which he described as mere “warm up” for his grand dream.
Technological Transformations and Investments:
Son, known for his enthusiasm for transformative technologies, has a track record of investing in the internet and smartphones’ proliferation.
At SoftBank’s annual general meeting, he emphasized the group’s focus on integrating robotics with artificial intelligence. The objective is to deploy these AI-powered robots across mass production, logistics, and autonomous driving sectors.
Financial and Strategic Partnerships:
Realizing this vision will require substantial capital, and Son acknowledged that SoftBank cannot fund this endeavor alone. He emphasized the need for pooling resources with partners to achieve the scale necessary for his AI and robotics ambitions.
SoftBank’s Recent Challenges and Successes:
While Son’s reputation as a visionary investor has faced setbacks, particularly with the Vision Fund’s investments in tech startups faltering since 2021, there have been notable successes.
The public listing of SoftBank’s subsidiary, Arm, a British chip designer, has significantly enhanced Son’s reputation. Arm’s share price surge has attracted considerable investor interest, particularly from those interested in AI-linked firms.
Market Valuation and Investor Actions:
Despite Arm’s success, a notable disparity exists between SoftBank’s asset value and its market capitalization.
This gap has led activist investor Elliott Management to build a $2 billion stake in SoftBank and advocate for a $15 billion share buyback to boost its share price. Son mentioned that while SoftBank is always open to buying back its shares, there are no current plans to do so.
Son also left the door open for potentially taking SoftBank private if the company’s share price continues to underperform relative to its true value, noting that he has contemplated this option multiple times.
