TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said Wednesday that he wants to make it the company that utilizes artificial intelligence most in the world.

Generative AI and other technologies will be utilized proactively for a variety of services provided by the group, Son said in a speech in a Tokyo event.

The group stands at the threshold of AI-driven evolution, Son said, adding that by utilizing AI technologies, the group will be able to take advantage of the strong connections between its services, including mobile, messaging, internet portal and smartphone-based payment services, and their users.

As for the future of AI, Son said he believes that artificial general intelligence, or AGI, that responds to whatever people ask it, will become a reality within 10 years.

“Like it or not, the AI revolution is coming. As a technology-driven nation, Japan should wake up,” Son said.

Son described British semiconductor designer Arm Holdings PLC, a SoftBank Group subsidiary that went public on the US Nasdaq stock market last month, as “a core company of the group” that he hopes will play an active role in the age of AI.

Arm CEO Rene Haas joined the event online and had a dialogue with Son.

JIJI Press