Latest news with #SoftBankGroupCorp
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
SoftBank-Backed InMobi Is Said to Aim for $1 Billion India IPO
InMobi Pte, a mobile advertising platform backed by SoftBank Group Corp., aims to raise as much as $1 billion in an initial public offering in India, according to people familiar with the matter. The company plans to hire arrangers for an IPO in Mumbai and file an initial draft prospectus with regulators this year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. InMobi could seek a valuation of $5 billion to $6 billion in a share offering, they said, adding that considerations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made.
Qatar Tribune
17-07-2025
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
SoftBank CEO pitches autonomous AI agent system for corporate use
Agencies SoftBank Group Corp Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said Wednesday the company is developing 'the world's first' artificial intelligence agent system that can autonomously perform complex tasks. 'The AI agents will think for themselves and improve on their the era of humans doing the programming is coming to an end,' Son told an event in Tokyo attended by business people. He revealed the new system will first be introduced at the technology conglomerate with 100 million clients and 50,000 employees and said such AI agents could work 24 hours a day to compile strategies, program and negotiate on behalf of humans. 'I'm excited to see how the AI agents will interact with one another and advance given tasks,' Son said, adding that the AI agents, to achieve the goals, will 'self-evolve and self-replicate' to execute subtasks. Unlike generative AI, which needs human commands to carry out tasks, an AI agent performs tasks on its own by designing workflows with data available to it. It is expected to enhance productivity at companies by helping their decision-making and problem-solving. The project comes as SoftBank Group and OpenAI, the developer of chatbot ChatGPT, said in February they had agreed to establish a joint venture to promote AI services for corporations. Joining Son virtually at the event, Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, underscored the significance of AI agents, calling the technology a 'remarkable step forward.' 'I think the first era of AI, initial era was about an AI that you could ask anything and it could tell you all these things,' Altman said. 'Now as these (AI) agents roll out, AI can do things for can ask the computer to do something in natural language, a sort of vaguely defined complex task, and it can understand you and execute it for you,' Altman said. 'The productivity and potential that it unlocks for the world is quite huge.'
Japan Today
16-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
SoftBank CEO Son pitches autonomous AI agent system for corporate use
SoftBank Group Corp Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said Wednesday the company is developing "the world's first" artificial intelligence agent system that can autonomously perform complex tasks. "The AI agents will think for themselves and improve on their the era of humans doing the programming is coming to an end," Son told an event in Tokyo attended by business people. He revealed the new system will first be introduced at the technology conglomerate with 100 million clients and 50,000 employees and said such AI agents could work 24 hours a day to compile strategies, program and negotiate on behalf of humans. "I'm excited to see how the AI agents will interact with one another and advance given tasks," Son said, adding that the AI agents, to achieve the goals, will "self-evolve and self-replicate" to execute subtasks. Unlike generative AI, which needs human commands to carry out tasks, an AI agent performs tasks on its own by designing workflows with data available to it. It is expected to enhance productivity at companies by helping their decision-making and problem-solving. The project comes as SoftBank Group and OpenAI, the developer of chatbot ChatGPT, said in February they had agreed to establish a joint venture to promote AI services for corporations. Joining Son virtually at the event, Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, underscored the significance of AI agents, calling the technology a "remarkable step forward." "I think the first era of AI, initial era was about an AI that you could ask anything and it could tell you all these things," Altman said. "Now as these (AI) agents roll out, AI can do things for can ask the computer to do something in natural language, a sort of vaguely defined complex task, and it can understand you and execute it for you," Altman said. "The productivity and potential that it unlocks for the world is quite huge." © KYODO
16-07-2025
- Business
SoftBank Group to Introduce AI Agents on Large Scale
Tokyo, July 16 (Jiji Press)--SoftBank Group Corp. will introduce "artificial intelligence agents," which autonomously carry out human tasks, within the group on a large scale, Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said Wednesday. The strategy to promote operational reform by leaving tasks such as research and negotiations to AI will make each employee like a "thousand-armed deity," Son said in a lecture in Tokyo. Son expressed hope that, through a system that allows AI to reproduce itself and evolve, the group will have one billion AI agents by the end of the year. He argued that people or companies who do not use AI are denying their own development, stressing the need to spread the use of AI in Japan, which is said to be lagging behind other countries in AI adoption. During the lecture, Son held an online discussion with Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, about the future of AI and related security risks. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman see no end to AI demand and scaling
SoftBank Group Corp . founder Masayoshi Son and OpenAI chief Sam Altman see insatiable demand for AI that makes it imperative to keep building ever more computing capacity. Speaking via teleconference at SoftBank World, the two business partners argued that advancing artificial intelligence would lead to new jobs that are not yet imagined, and the advancement of robotics will help kickstart a 'self-improvement' loop. 'As we drive the cost of AI down, more people want to use it,' Altman said in response to Son's question about diminishing returns from further expansion. 'So if we make the cost of AI 10 times cheaper, people wanna use it 30 times as much or whatever. And the demand for intelligence in the world just seems to be huge.' The theme of their conversation, in front of an audience of Japanese business and enterprise leaders, was primarily about self-replicating innovation. Altman mentioned robots that would be able to build other robots and Son leaned heavily into the idea of AI agents learning independently and then creating new ones to enhance productivity. He wants to deploy a billion AI agents within the SoftBank group this year and design an operating system for them. In February, Son unveiled a 50-50 venture between SoftBank's telecom unit and OpenAI, underscoring his commitment to support the ChatGPT operator's AI endeavors. The venture will market an enterprise AI product called Cristal intelligence to local industries from automakers to retailers. SoftBank's group companies are adopting the US startup's tools and will spend $3 billion per year on those services. Son's involvement with OpenAI extends far beyond enterprise customers. SoftBank said it will invest as much as $30 billion in the US company, a plan that's contingent on OpenAI's restructuring of its complex operational structure. Son also joined with Altman for the $500 billion Stargate project to build data centers and other AI infrastructure across the US. 'As we think about scaling in the future, way beyond 10 gigawatts, we'll need new technologies and new construction,' Altman told Son. Neither executive addressed the challenges around providing energy for such large-scale projects, nor the potential downsides if their expectations for runaway demand do not fully materialise. SoftBank shares rallied 38% in June for its best such performance in two decades as shareholders cheered Son's bold plans and aggressive spending. The stock, however, continues to trade at a discount to the company's total assets, weighed down by risks arising from complex financing plans.
