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SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son told shareholders on Friday that the technology group's past investments had been “only a warm-up” for its big goal of ushering in an age of artificial intelligence.
An energetic Son told SoftBank shareholders at the corporate's annual meeting that his mission is to create so-called artificial superintelligence, a technology that he believes might be significantly more intelligent than humans.
“This is my job to make ASI a reality,” Son said, without giving further details about his plan. He outlined opportunities in AI robotics, data centers and autonomous driving, and explained that SoftBank would want partners to support his vision.
Son had previously told shareholders on Thursday that the group must “search for its next big bet without fear of whether it should be a success or a flop.”
After a self-described period of “defense mode” following a series of painful losses at its technology-heavy Vision Funds, SoftBank now has a robust balance sheet and billions of dollars in its war chest.
In May, Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto described the group's credit-to-value ratio as “perhaps too low, to be honest, too protected.”
Son desires to make AI deals that maintain the group's relevance in what he sees as the following stage of humanity and support the corporate's crown jewel, UK-based chip designer Arm.
SoftBank invested over a billion dollars in British self-driving automotive startup Wayve this month, making it Europe's largest AI deal so far.
But while Son tries to make use of his capital for brand new businesses, others try to pressure the corporate to return the cash to shareholders.
The Financial Times reported this month that Elliott Management has rebuilt a big stake in SoftBank and is pushing Son to launch a $15 billion share buyback.
Son on Friday downplayed the problem of buybacks, saying his AI vision was a priority. He also warned that he had not ruled out taking SoftBank private in the longer term as a consequence of the gap between the group's market capitalization and the rising value of its assets, including Arm.
“To be honest, I even have thought of this before and will give it some thought again in the longer term. Our share price is just too much discounted… the so-called Masa Son discount,” he said.
“Nobody knows what is going to occur, I can't promise anything,” he added. “Share buyback or not, privatization or not… I’m solely focused on the belief of ASI.”
SoftBank shares fell greater than 3 percent in Tokyo on Friday.
