(Bloomberg) — Masayoshi Son, the SoftBank Group Corp. founder and eloquent entrepreneur, is back with a plan to usher in the age of artificial intelligence.
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Son outlined his ambition to help develop AI that is thousands of times smarter than humans, in the most grandiose declaration since the Japanese conglomerate began strengthening its finances after a series of ill-timed startup investments.
Appearing more energetic and thoughtful than he has in years, Son spoke Friday about a future in which Arm Holdings Inc.'s chips will support a vibrant ecosystem of robots and powerful data centers that will work together to treat cancer, clean our homes and play with our children.
Visibly overcome with emotion at times, Son spoke of wanting to change the world before he passes away. Referring to his late friend Steve Jobs, the 66-year-old said his frequent conversations with the two men often left him in tears as he realized his own legacy paled in comparison to that of his Apple co-founder.
But after spending the past year agonizing over his next move since his father passed away, Son said he woke up Friday morning with an epiphany. “I've found the answer,” he told shareholders gathered at the annual general meeting. “This is what I was born to do,” Son said, without elaborating on his next plans. “We've done a lot of things, but they were all just a warm-up for my dream of making ASI a reality.”
SoftBank shares fell 3.1%, their biggest drop in three months.
SoftBank is planning to spend about $100 billion on AI-related chips in a project called Izanagi, Bloomberg reported in February. When asked by shareholders about Izanagi, Son said the company was committed to results and would work hard to achieve its goals, but did not provide details.
Son's explanations and goals have grown grander in proportion to SoftBank's stock price and cash hoard, which has been riding Arm's AI-driven surge by 2024. Son has brushed off questions about buybacks, dividends and stock splits, saying they are “nothing compared to the world of superintelligence and human evolution.”
“Share buybacks and dividend payments are small things,” Son said, adding that technological advances and adoption are what drive shareholder value. “You may be worried about whether SoftBank's stock price will go up. Forget about that. Does that really matter? Masayoshi Son has a dream he wants to pursue. Please support him.”
Son's stance on share buybacks comes after Elliott Investment Management recently bought more than $2 billion in SoftBank shares and called for $15 billion in share buybacks, the second time Elliott has targeted SoftBank.
“I don't know what's going to happen, and I can't promise anything. We may do a share buyback, we may take the company private, or we may continue with the business as is,” Son said. “Whatever the case may be, I'm going to go after ASI.”
Executives have signaled the company is preparing to launch an investment offensive, potentially ending a multi-quarter hiatus. The company's loan-to-value ratio, or LTV, fell to 8.4% at the end of March, near a record low and well below the company's 25% target — one of Son's favorite metrics for judging whether the company is properly balancing risks and opportunities.
SoftBank's net worth reached 34 trillion yen ($214 billion) as of Thursday, buoyed by a rise in Arm shares. SoftBank's own shares have risen nearly 60 percent this year and are on the verge of hitting a new high.
Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto told investors at an earnings briefing last month that SoftBank is now in a position where it needs to take more risks, especially as AI development accelerates. “Not taking risks is the biggest risk for us,” said Goto, who has until now served as a mouthpiece for the risk-taking CEO Son. “We are looking at a variety of challenges.”
–With assistance from Hiroshi Miyazaki.
(Updated with Share's reactions)
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