SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Regains Japan’s Richest Person Title on AI Investment Surge

Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank, has reclaimed his position as Japan's richest person, driven by a surge in SoftBank's shares fueled by investor optimism about its AI investments, particularly in OpenAI. Son envisions artificial superintelligence (ASI), which he describes as AI that is 10,000 times smarter than humans, as the future, and he has made extensive bets across the AI technology stack including chips, infrastructure, and applications. His AI strategy includes significant investments such as acquiring the chip designer Arm, which is central to SoftBank's AI ambitions, and plans to invest up to $32.7 billion in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Son's interest in AI dates back over a decade, with a consistent vision of singularity—the point where machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence—and he has pursued this vision despite recent financial setbacks. Former SoftBank executives highlight Son's long-standing commitment to AI, noting his early discussions about the future of machine intelligence and his strategic acquisitions like Arm and Ampere Computing. Overall, Son aims to position SoftBank as a cornerstone in the coming AI revolution, replicating past successes such as his early investment in Alibaba.