In a move that signals a significant push for artificial intelligence adoption outside the United States, OpenAI, the pioneering AI research company, has entered into a landmark joint venture with SoftBank Group Corp.
The collaboration aims to aggressively market and deploy AI services to businesses across Japan, marking one of the most ambitious efforts to date to bring OpenAI’s cutting-edge tools to enterprise clients beyond its home turf.
A global whirlwind and a meeting of minds in Tokyo
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is currently on a global tour, a whirlwind itinerary encompassing key tech hubs such as Tokyo, Seoul, New Delhi, Dubai, and Germany.
On Monday, his journey brought him to Tokyo, where he shared the stage with SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.
The two tech visionaries unveiled a 50-50 partnership between OpenAI and SoftBank’s telecommunications arm, SoftBank Corp., culminating in a pivotal meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Massive deployment
The new venture, spearheaded by a projected 1,000 new hires, will focus on aggressively marketing OpenAI’s suite of products to a wide spectrum of Japanese industries, from automotive manufacturers to retailers.
Son also revealed that SoftBank’s own diverse portfolio of companies, including LY Corp. and PayPay Corp., are slated to collectively utilize OpenAI’s technologies to the tune of approximately $3 billion annually, underscoring a massive commitment to AI integration.
SoftBank’s rising prominence in global AI development
This alliance not only highlights OpenAI’s global expansion strategy but also cements SoftBank’s increasingly influential role in shaping the trajectory of AI development worldwide.
From leading the $100 billion “Stargate” endeavor in the US to its ongoing investment in data center infrastructure within Japan, SoftBank is clearly positioning itself as a key player.
Furthermore, the tie-up signals Son’s explicit endorsement of OpenAI’s model of leveraging ever-increasing data volumes to achieve optimum AI performance.
“More brain is definitely better”: Son’s bold vision for AI
During a joint press event with Altman, Son articulated his belief in the transformative power of vast computational resources.
“If more is better, we should do a lot. More brain is definitely better,” Son stated, seemingly countering the argument that cheaper, smaller AI models, such as those developed by Chinese startup DeepSeek, are sufficient.
He added:
Some people say you can do small — compressed — but that’s just small.
The AI revolution is now
SoftBank’s foray into the AI arena aligns with the investments of other tech titans like Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp., who are also making significant capital expenditures in the foundational infrastructure required for future AI development.
Altman underscored the profound potential of AI, declaring to Son, “The world is going to need so much compute… The returns on a linear increase in intelligence is exponential in terms of value. It takes a lot of capex, but it creates that much revenue.”
Following the announcement, SoftBank’s shares closed with a modest gain of 0.5%, recovering from earlier losses.
Japan’s AI imperative
Recognizing that Japan largely missed the internet boom, Son has repeatedly stressed that the nation cannot afford to fall behind again in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
However, Japan’s pursuit of AI is hampered by its heavy reliance on imported energy resources and public skepticism towards nuclear power, following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
“The spread of AI remains slow, compared with the US,” noted Prime Minister Ishiba during his Monday evening meeting with Altman and Son.
A transpacific AI push
Just weeks prior to the Tokyo announcement, Altman and Son appeared alongside former US President Donald Trump to unveil the multi-billion dollar Stargate Project, designed to build data centers and infrastructure in the United States.
Backed by Oracle Corp. and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, the initiative aims to allocate $500 billion over the next four years to drastically expand computing power. Ishiba, during the closed-door meeting, solicited feedback on how to bolster Japan’s AI ecosystem.
He also inquired about an upcoming meeting between Son and Trump, praising Son for winning Trump’s “immense trust.”
Unveiling the future of enterprise AI
In a symbolic gesture that mirrored his 2016 acquisition of Arm, Son presented a purple crystal on stage, signifying his vision for the future of technology.
Joined by Arm CEO Rene Haas and Junichi Miyakawa, head of SoftBank’s telecom arm, Son christened the new joint venture’s enterprise AI offering as “Cristal Intelligence.”
With visible enthusiasm, Son shared his vision of the technology:
I’m just so excited…Cristal can make the best decision based on updated information on top of every piece of data from the past in its long-term memory.
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