SoftBank CEO outlines four pillars to drive AI expansion

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said on Wednesday that the company will sharpen its focus on four key areas: artificial intelligence (AI) models, chips, infrastructure, and robotics, as it accelerates its AI expansion. Speaking at the Japanese investment and technology conglomerate’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Tokyo, Son outlined the group’s AI strategy and indicated his intention to remain at the helm for another 10 to 15 years to fulfil his AI ambitions. In these four fields, SoftBank has invested in US-based OpenAI, is advancing plans to build data centres, and has acquired stakes in companies specialising in chip design and robotics. The 68-year-old CEO also dismissed concerns that the AI sector has entered bubble territory. ‘People may wonder if AI is just a bubble, just as they doubted the internet,’ Son said during the meeting. ‘But looking back over the past 30 years, leading internet companies have actually grown tremendously. Compared to that, the AI revolution has only just begun.’ He noted that AI has now entered its second phase, moving beyond text- or image-generating chatbots towards agentic AI—systems capable of reasoning and acting autonomously.