SoftBank CEO Predicts Artificial Super Intelligence by 2035, Requiring $9 Trillion Investment

Expect Artificial Super Intelligence by 2035, Says SoftBank CEO

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son reiterated his belief in the imminent arrival of Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) on Tuesday, saying that it would require hundreds of billions of dollars in investment to realise. According to him, the currently available Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is at the same level as a human brain. Also Read: AI Will Cure a Lot of Cancers, Says JPMorgan's CEO: Report Son began by saying, "...Only focused on AI." He believes that AI will change humankind's future forever. "I want to make humankind's future better, happier, a fantastic future. That's what I'm interested in." However, according to his definition, artificial superintelligence will be 10,000 times smarter than a human brain and will exist by 2035, Son told an audience of global business, technology, and finance leaders at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He warned that not regulating AI (superpower) could be "super dangerous." Of course, there are always bad elements that could misuse AI. However, these bad elements typically lack the capital to sponsor the technology. There isn't enough money available to support the bad actors. Also Read: Everyone in India Can Ask AI Assistants Questions About Health Issues, Says Meta Official: Report He predicted that generative AI will require USD 9 trillion in cumulative capital expenditure for data centers and chips in the future, adding that he believes chip maker Nvidia is undervalued based on this projection. Nvidia is just one example, he said, predicting that AI spending will significantly boost Nvidia's chip business over the next decade. "I think Nvidia is undervalued because the future is much bigger," Son said at the Future Investment Initiative conference. Son stated that achieving this level of AI will require upwards of 200 million GPU chips and USD 9 trillion in cumulative capex spending by companies. "I say it's still very reasonable capex. USD 9 trillion is not too big; maybe too small," Son said. The SoftBank CEO calculated that if artificial superintelligence replaces just 5 percent of GDP in 10 years, it has the potential to deliver as much as USD 4 trillion in profits annually. Softbank has pointed its focus on investing in AI companies, recently contributing USD 500 million to OpenAI's funding round. Son mentioned that he is saving up funds "so I can make the next big move," but did not provide any details regarding his investment plans. Also Read: AI Has the Potential to Revolutionise Cardiology, Say Experts: Report "Arm is our core company. Arm has 99 percent or 100 percent of the market share in all mobile phone chips. Arm is going to become an AI-centric chip company very soon," Son said. "But there are AI robotics that I'm super interested in. The convergence of artificial super intelligence and robotics would create a tremendous product -- it's a fascinating thing," Son explained.

SoftBank's Son says artificial super intelligence to exist by 2035

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son reiterated his belief in the coming of artificial super intelligence (ASI) on Tuesday, saying it would require hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to realise. Artificial super intelligence will be 10,000 times smarter than a human brain and will exist by 2035, Son told an audience of global business, technology and finance leaders at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Son said he is saving up funds "so I can make the next big move," but did not provide any details as to his investment plans. He predicted that generative AI will require $900 trillion dollars in cumulative capital expenditure in data centres and chips in the future, adding that he thought chip maker Nvidia was undervalued on this basis. Son has long touted the promise of new technologies and made his name and fortune on successful bets on the proliferation of mobile internet and e-commerce. However, his record as an investor is patchy. The launch of SoftBank's mammoth Vision Fund investment vehicles from 2017 upended the world of venture capital but many of the funds' high growth startups have crashed in value. The funds were down $2.4 billion in aggregate as of the end of June 2024. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF invested $45 billion into the first Vision Fund. (Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton)

SoftBank's Son Says Artificial Super Intelligence to Exist by 2035

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son reiterated his belief in the coming of artificial super intelligence (ASI) on Tuesday, saying it would require hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to realise. Artificial super intelligence will be 10,000 times smarter than a human brain and will exist by 2035, Son told an audience of global business, technology and finance leaders at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Son said he is saving up funds "so I can make the next big move," but did not provide any details as to his investment plans. He predicted that generative AI will require $900 trillion dollars in cumulative capital expenditure in data centres and chips in the future, adding that he thought chip maker Nvidia was undervalued on this basis. Son has long touted the promise of new technologies and made his name and fortune on successful bets on the proliferation of mobile internet and e-commerce. However, his record as an investor is patchy. The launch of SoftBank's mammoth Vision Fund investment vehicles from 2017 upended the world of venture capital but many of the funds' high growth startups have crashed in value. The funds were down $2.4 billion in aggregate as of the end of June 2024. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF invested $45 billion into the first Vision Fund. (Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton)

Softbank CEO says super AI will be here in 2035 and cost $9T

Video Masayoshi Son, the Japanese billionaire behind Softbank, has predicted that an artificial superintelligence 10,000 times smarter than a human brain will be created within about a decade - but at quite a cost. Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia, Son said that a scaled-up version of AI could add around 5 percent of global economic output by 2035, but it'll need a massive investment in chips and power. For this reason Nvidia - currently the world's most valuable company, is undervalued - Son argued. "I have predicted it would take 400GW of AI datacenter power, that's bigger than the total US electricity supply and it will require 200 million chips," he said, as you can see below. "The cumulative capex is $9 trillion - how do you recoup? It's too much investment for many people's view but I say it's still very reasonable capex. $9 trillion is not too big, maybe too small." Youtube Video He opined that if the so-called super AI could produce around $9 trillion a year in benefits that initial investment would be "small money," and could be depreciated. He predicted four companies would make trillion-dollar profits, adding, as one might expected, that he wanted to be one of them. While Son is all-in on AI, he's adjusting his timescale. In June he was predicting artificial superintelligence would be here in three to five years, saying that Arm - which Softbank owns a majority share of - would be one of the beneficiaries. But so will Nvidia, he predicted this week. "I think Nvidia is undervalued because the future is much bigger," he suggested. There are a few small problems along the way. Building a super AI would currently take colossal amounts of power and money - more than most governments could manage. And what if he's wrong? It has happened with Softbank before. It's worth pointing out the investment house poured billions into office-sharing biz WeWork, for example, only to see the value of the investment plummet after a bonkers pre-IPO statement by co-founder Adam Neumann caused first the offering to be called off, and then led to his resignation. Full disclosure: The Register in San Francisco still has a WeWork office, and if there are more than a dozen people on the entire floor of the Embarcadero building, we'd be very surprised. So is Softbank about to take another bath? Son thinks not, and the multi-billionaire says he's saving up to cover the costs of building the new super AI of the future. And when one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of around $16 billion tells you they're saving, it's a good indicator that the costs of such a scheme are going to be massive. ®