OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is currently on a global tour, traveling to cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, New Delhi, Dubai, and Germany. On Monday, he and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son presented their 50-50 partnership between OpenAI and SoftBank’s telecommunications division, SoftBank Corp., during an event in Tokyo, which was followed by a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The joint venture plans to recruit 1,000 employees to promote OpenAI products across various Japanese sectors, including automotive and retail, as stated by Son. He also mentioned that SoftBank’s affiliated companies, such as LY Corp. and PayPay Corp., are expected to utilize the US firm's tools, amounting to approximately $3 billion annually.
This partnership highlights SoftBank’s growing influence in the global AI landscape, from spearheading the $100 billion Stargate initiative in the US to its ongoing efforts to establish data centers in Japan. It also reflects Son’s commitment to OpenAI’s approach of leveraging vast amounts of data to achieve optimal results.
“If more is better, we should do a lot. More brain is definitely better,” Son said during a press event, where he shared a Tokyo stage with Altman. He made an apparent nod to the popularity of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s cheaper AI model now challenging the premise underpinning the need for big AI spending: “Some people say you can do small — compressed — but that’s just small.”
SoftBank is joining a growing list of tech giants like Meta and Microsoft that are pouring billions into laying the groundwork for future AI advancements.
Altman shared with Son that “the world is going to need so much compute,” hinting at a future filled with AI innovations in fields like healthcare and robotics. He emphasized that while it requires significant capital investment, the potential returns from increased intelligence are exponential.
SoftBank's shares ended the day up 0.5%, bouncing back from earlier losses.
Son has pointed out that Japan, which missed out on the early internet boom, can't afford to let another three decades slip by. However, the country faces challenges in its AI ambitions due to high costs of imported energy and public hesitance towards nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster, especially with the frequent earthquakes they experience.
Ishiba noted that the pace of AI adoption in Japan is lagging behind the US during his discussion with Altman and Son on Monday night.
Just a few weeks ago, Altman and Son were with former President Trump, who announced a massive project involving billions for building data centers and infrastructure in the US for the ChatGPT developer. With backing from Oracle and Abu Dhabi's MGX, the Stargate Project aims to invest around $500 billion over the next four years to enhance computing capabilities.
After their private meeting, Son mentioned that Ishiba was looking for ways to boost Japan's AI sector and was preparing for a meeting with Trump later this week. The prime minister had previously commended Son for earning Trump’s “immense trust.”
At the press conference, Son presented a purple crystal, symbolizing a metaphor he referenced when acquiring Arm in 2016, which he described as a way to envision the future of technology. He was accompanied on stage by Arm's CEO, Rene Haas, and Junichi Miyakawa, the head of SoftBank’s telecom division. Son referred to the collaborative venture's enterprise AI as “Cristal intelligence.”
“I’m just so excited,” Son expressed. “Cristal can make the best decision based on updated information on top of every piece of data from the past in its long-term memory.”