Masayoshi Son's bet on the future of artificial intelligence to redefine SoftBank in the coming decades

Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank, has built his reputation on bold decisions. Today, all his efforts are focused in one direction: superintelligent artificial intelligence, which, according to his vision, will reshape not only SoftBank but the entire global technology landscape over the next ten years.

Masayoshi Son’s Journey: From an Unknown Chinese Startup to the AI Frontier

In 2000, Masayoshi Son made a choice that many considered risky: investing $20 million in Alibaba, then a small, little-known Chinese startup. That gamble turned out to be one of the most profitable tech deals in history, generating billions for SoftBank. Today, Son aims to replicate that strategic vision, but the stage is set in artificial intelligence.

Masayoshi Son’s interest in the concept of singularity—the point when machines surpass human intelligence—is not a passing trend. Alok Sama, who served as SoftBank’s chief financial officer, recalls conversations from years past when Son discussed the topic with intensity and seriousness, long before it became mainstream. “He was contemplating this while few others in the industry paid attention,” Sama recalls.

The Strategic Architecture: From Chips to Cloud to Robotics

SoftBank’s strategy under Masayoshi Son spans the entire AI technology stack. In 2016, the Japanese giant acquired Arm, the British chip designer, for $32 billion—a move that seemed daring at the time. Today, that acquisition is valued at more than four times the initial price, and Arm’s technology powers not only global smartphones but also AI data centers built by giants like Nvidia.

SoftBank’s actions have intensified in recent years. In 2026, the company confirmed plans to invest up to $32.7 billion in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and agreed to acquire American chipmaker Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion. Simultaneously, it purchased a Foxconn plant in Ohio for $375 million, a strategic move to accelerate the Stargate AI data center.

The Dream of “Brain Computers” and the Robot Pepper

Masayoshi Son’s long-term vision dates back more than a decade. In 2010, he unveiled SoftBank’s “Vision for the Next 30 Years,” which included cutting-edge concepts like “brain computers”—systems capable of learning and adapting without direct human intervention. A few years later, in 2014, the humanoid robot Pepper represented a tangible attempt to embody this vision, though the project did not achieve the expected commercial success.

For Masayoshi Son, Pepper’s failure did not mean abandoning the concept but rather looking in a different direction, learning that artificial intelligence and robotics require deeper technological maturation.

Lessons from the Failures of the Vision Fund: The Case of Autonomous Vehicles

About eight years ago, Masayoshi Son established the Vision Fund with a $100 billion fund to finance his ambitious tech investments. Early bets included Uber, Didi, and WeWork—companies promising exponential growth but struggling to turn a profit. Subsequent analysis revealed that some of these decisions were based on Son’s conviction that autonomous vehicles would lead the first wave of AI-driven revolution. However, the technology developed more slowly than expected, and Uber eventually sold its autonomous driving division to focus on other segments.

By 2022, after significant losses, SoftBank adopted a more cautious stance, pulling back from some ambitious projects. This approach resulted in missed early opportunities with emerging players in AI. Nevertheless, the Vision Fund now hosts a sizable portfolio of AI-driven companies.

The AI Market: A Global Race with New Challenges

The push toward increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence is intense, with American and Chinese companies fiercely competing for dominance. Market dynamics, however, remain unpredictable. In 2025, Chinese company DeepSeek surprised markets by developing a reasoning model at lower costs than its American rivals, challenging the long-held assumption of technological leadership.

According to Dan Baker of Morningstar, analysts warn that the sector’s relative immaturity means current leaders may not maintain their dominance in the decades to come. “Unexpected challengers could still emerge out of nowhere,” Baker notes. Nonetheless, SoftBank remains confident that its long-term strategic outlook and Masayoshi Son’s belief in AI as a ten-year cycle will allow it to stay at the forefront of this global transformation.