According to SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBF) (OTC:SFTBY) CEO Masayoshi Son, access to artificial superintelligence should be considered “almost like a human right,” on par with electricity and motorization.
In an interview with TIME, Son said that 30 years from today, if any village or any country lacks access to superintelligence or superrobotics, it would be “dramatically left out.”
The CEO also cautioned that the failure to ensure equal access to technology could widen the economic disparities between countries.
The interview snippet was shared by the publication on X late Monday.
Telecom Arm Lifts Shares
Son’s remarks come as the company’s telecom arm, SoftBank Corp, raised its full-year profit outlook on Tuesday, leading to a surge of over 10% in SoftBank Group Corp’s shares in the Tokyo trading session, following over 6% jump on Monday amid Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi‘s landslide election victory.
The positive outlook for Arm Holdings Plc-ADR (NASDAQ:ARM) also contributed to the bullish sentiment toward SoftBank’s AI exposure.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2025, revenue was up 8% year over year to 5.2 trillion yen ($33 billion), and operating income also rising 8% to 884 billion yen ($5.69 billion). Buoyed by the strong performance, the telecom unit raised its full-year revenue forecast to 6.95 trillion yen ($45 billion) from 6.7 trillion yen ($43 billion).
SoftBank Doubles Down On AI Ecosystem
In recent times, SoftBank has intensified its push into AI. Earlier this month, Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) announced a partnership with SoftBank subsidiary Saimemory to develop next-generation memory technology for AI and high-performance computing. The collaboration, dubbed the Z-Angle Memory (ZAM) program, targets advanced memory solutions, with prototypes expected by 2027 and full commercialization planned for 2030.
Reports in January suggested that the Masayoshi Son-led group is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI, as the ChatGPT maker looks to raise as much as $100 billion in fresh capital. In December, SoftBank Group agreed to acquire DigitalBridge Group Inc. (NYSE:DBRG) in an all-cash deal valued at about $4 billion, advancing its strategy to scale global AI-related digital infrastructure. DigitalBridge is a global alternative asset manager specializing in data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, and edge infrastructure.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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