SoftBank’s son predicts artificial intelligence will run households in the next few years – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son outlined one of the most ambitious timelines for artificial intelligence adoption in history, predicting a near future in which the technology will power entire households.

Artificial intelligence will soon be able to monitor the health of family members, call a doctor when needed, do grocery shopping, make reservations, evaluate optimal investments and teach young children, Son said in a speech Thursday at an annual forum for corporate clients. He raised his expectations for when artificial general intelligence — a long-term goal for developers from OpenAI to Meta Platforms Inc. and Google owned by Alphabet Inc. — will be realized within the next two to three years.

Son heads Japan’s largest technology investor and has made hundreds of bets on startups and companies developing new technologies and services based on artificial intelligence. His rosy view of the technology’s potential in recent years has served as a warning to skeptics that they could be left behind if they do not embrace the coming revolution in the way humanity lives and operates.

“We can design personal AI agents that understand your emotions and whose greatest reward is your happiness,” Son said. “Artificial superintelligence is something that wants you to be happy.”

The 67-year-old’s comments emphasized his willingness to continue investing billions of dollars in this field. SoftBank, which has raised a hefty pile of cash, contributed $500 million to OpenAI’s $6.6 billion fundraising round, which values the startup at $157 billion. Son did not mention the investment in his speech, but praised OpenAI’s latest ChatGPT model called 01 and its ability to process information to mimic human reasoning.

The head of SoftBank said he asked the model difficult questions, hoping it could thwart the artificial intelligence, but got good answers within 45 seconds. His questions included how he could increase his savings account to 100 million yen ($680,000) and how to expand his range of electric car batteries.

“The human brain is made up of about 100 trillion synaptic connections, and that number is not going to change, while generative AI is creating new synapses at a breakneck pace,” Son said.

A sensible AI will need to be able to talk and negotiate with others when performing complex tasks such as setting a price for a service or making sure a bathtub is full and at the user’s desired temperature at the right time, Son said. All of this will drive the need for more connectivity and more chips using technology from SoftBank’s Arm Holdings Plc, he added.

SoftBank plans to continue investing in AI semiconductors, data centers and robots while helping build Japan’s AI ecosystem. The company’s telecommunications division announced plans to build data centers in both northern and central Japan and secured stocks of Nvidia Corp. GPUs early. shortly after the chipmaker launched the Grace and Hopper architectures in 2022.

Bloomberg reported in February that one of Son’s plans is to allocate $100 billion for artificial intelligence chips. The billionaire warned shareholders in June that his next big venture could be a huge hit or a terrible flop, but SoftBank had no choice but to try.

After a string of startup losses, a humiliated Son largely avoided the spotlight and focused on Arm’s chip unit. The Tokyo-based technology investment firm has hundreds of loss-making startups on its books. The bulk of that portfolio is made up of unlisted young companies that look to Son for guidance on navigating the rapidly changing technology landscape.