SoftBank’s Son Prepares Succession While Pushing Bold AI Vision

Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank (SFTBY), is laying the groundwork for his eventual departure while steering the tech investment giant toward an ambitious new frontier: artificial superintelligence (ASI). At the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Son declared his intent to position SoftBank as the global leader in ASI within the next decade—a FORM of AI he claims could surpass human intelligence by a factor of 10,000.

SoftBank’s partnerships, including its collaboration with OpenAI and ownership of chipmaker Arm (ARM), are central to this vision. Son expressed unwavering confidence in OpenAI’s potential, predicting it could become the world’s most valuable company post-IPO. The announcement underscores Son’s strategy to cement SoftBank’s legacy in the next technological paradigm shift before transitioning leadership.