SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said the company would continue to “counterattack” to revive the technology group’s investments in artificial intelligence after nearly three years of asset sales and cash hoarding.
In his first major speech to investors since November, the 65-year-old founder of the Japanese conglomerate said he would devote his life to being an “architect of the future of humanity”.
“We have done enough on the defensive,” Son said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday. “I think the timing is fast for us to come back. I’m thrilled.”
After SoftBank’s Vision Fund suffered heavy losses in recent years, the tech conglomerate halted new investments and tapped nearly all of its stake in Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba to raise funds. As a result, the group is now sitting on more than 500 million yen ($35 billion) in cash.
“I regret the big mistake that was made,” Son said in response to shareholders’ questions about whether the Vision Fund’s investments were really focused on artificial intelligence.
“But we still have investments in about 500 companies . . . and I think at least I’ve identified more than a few of those 500 companies that are going to be hugely successful. I think that’s enough.”
In May, SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said the firm would not miss an opportunity to invest in new technologies such as ChatGPT, but warned it was not prepared to accelerate its deal activity after a record annual investment loss of 5.3 trillion yen.
SoftBank shares were up 4 percent ahead of Son’s speech. Investor sentiment improved ahead of a major New York listing of its British chip designer Arm.
During the annual general meeting, Son revealed he had a crisis in October, shed tears for days and questioned how much he had achieved as an entrepreneur.
“I realized that I really wanted to be an architect and design the future of humanity,” Son said. “I want to implement multiple[my inventions]one by one, and Arm will provide the key. By taking Arm’s position and combining it with my idea, there will be an amazing opportunity.”
Son also said he had worked on 630 inventions in the past eight months and set up five offices to patent them.
While Son didn’t talk specifically about the Vision Fund investment that got him excited, he spoke in depth about the potential of AI demonstrated by the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, describing its CEO Sam Altman as “one of the key people on the planet.” .
The SoftBank boss warned that companies would fall behind if they shy away from using generative artificial intelligence, but he also called for regulations to ensure the technology cannot be misused.
“If (artificial intelligence) is misused by the wrong people, it could have consequences more dire than an atomic bomb . . . so regulations should be discussed and introduced,” he said.