SoftBank Shares Surge as CEO Pushes AI Superintelligence Vision With OpenAI
In June 2024 SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son claimed his life purpose was to create ASI | Credit: Yuichi Yamazaki / Getty Images.
- Softbank will invest $500 million in OpenAI.
- The ChatGPT-maker is expected to raise up to $6.5 billion.
- Softbank’s CEO Masayoshi Son previously claimed that creating artificial superintelligence was his life’s purpose.
Japanese multinational company SoftBank has seen its stock soar after it agreed to play a significant part in OpenAI’s latest funding round.
The move could help SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son push forward with his dreams of creating artificial superintelligence (ASI), a vision he previously claimed was his life purpose.
Softbank’s Investment in OpenAI
SoftBank’s Vision Fund, the company’s venture capital arm, has agreed to invest $500 million in OpenAI, The Information reported on Monday, Sept. 31.
The planned funding round from the ChatGPT-maker is expected to raise up to $6.5 billion, potentially valuing the company at $150 billion – making it one of the world’s most valuable startups.
OpenAI’s investment calls follow reports that it was overhauling its structure , switching from a not-for-profit to a for-profit company.
However, the funding round comes at a difficult time for the world’s leading AI company.
Last week, a string of high-level executives departed the firm on the same day – raising questions about the strength of its internal unit.
OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, announced her exit, along with Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, and Vice President for Research, Barret Zoph.
“Mira, Bob, and Barret made these decisions independently of each other and amicably,” CEO Sam Altman said.
Just a day before the departures, Altman shared a blog post detailing his predictions of an upcoming “Intelligence Age” powered by ASI that could be just a thousand days away.
The vision correlates closely to that of Son’s.
Softbank CEO Born To Create ASI
In June, SoftBank’s Son claimed his life purpose was to create ASI – and claimed that artificial general intelligence (AGI) was just three-to-five years away.
AGI refers to a type of AI that has human-like cognitive abilities. It would be capable of performing any intellectual task that a human can do, such as problem-solving and reasoning.
ASI, on the other hand, goes beyond human-level intelligence. ASI would not only be able to perform tasks that humans can, but it would do so at a far superior level.
This form of AI would be able to surpass humans in every aspect—creativity, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and general reasoning.
OpenAI Headed Towards Superintelligence?
SoftBank’s investment in OpenAI is likely to have been driven by Altman’s shared outlook that ASI is close by.
The AI boss claimed it was possible “we will have superintelligence in a few thousand days (!); it may take longer, but I’m confident we’ll get there.”
While very enthusiastic, Altman was notably low on details on how this could actually be achieved. While undoubtedly impressive, even the world’s largest AI models are making public mistakes.
“I believe the future is going to be so bright that no one can do it justice by trying to write about it now; a defining characteristic of the Intelligence Age will be massive prosperity,” Altman wrote.
“Although it will happen incrementally, astounding triumphs – fixing the climate, establishing a space colony, and the discovery of all of physics – will eventually become commonplace,” he added.
Despite Altman’s bullishness about ASI’s future, OpenAI’s current predicament may tell a different story.
For one, the development of AI systems is extremely expensive. According to The Times, OpenAI has seen a loss of $5 million in 2024 despite expecting revenue of $3.7 billion in 2024.
Another point to be noted is the swift departure of many of OpenAI’s high-level employees. If OpenAI is so close to AGI, why are so many people leaving it?
For SoftBank’s Son to achieve his life goal of creating AGI and ASI, it is imperative that his company invest in AI technologies. Whether OpenAI is the chosen one remains to be seen.
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