SoftBank and OpenAI Launch Joint Venture for AI Services
SoftBank and OpenAI Launch Joint Venture for AI Services.
Japanese technology leader SoftBank Group and OpenAI are enhancing their collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence by establishing a jointly owned company, SB OpenAI Japan, with equal ownership stakes.
Japanese technology leader SoftBank Group and OpenAI have enhanced their artificial intelligence collaboration by establishing a jointly owned entity named SB OpenAI Japan.
At an event in Tokyo, SoftBank's Chief Executive Masayoshi Son and OpenAI's Chief Executive Sam Altman discussed their partnership and encouraged Japanese enterprises to participate.
Son, showcasing a gleaming blue crystal ball as a symbolic gesture, indicated that the AI service Cristal could assist companies in areas such as planning, marketing, email management, and analyzing legacy source codes.
Initially, Cristal will be implemented within SoftBank Group's own subsidiaries, which include Arm, a semiconductor and software firm, and PayPay, a digital payment platform. SoftBank has announced plans to invest $3 billion annually to facilitate the integration of Cristal across its various businesses.
“This will be super-intelligence for the company. I’m so excited,” Son told reporters and other participants at the Transforming Business through AI event.
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Altman discussed the recently unveiled feature known as "deep research," which enables ChatGPT to perform more complex tasks, such as generating reports by searching the web and locating thousands of sources at a significantly faster rate than a human employee.
He also mentioned that deep research will be accessible in Japan in the Japanese language.
“This partnership with SoftBank will accelerate our vision for bringing transformative AI to some of the world’s most influential companies, starting with Japan,” said Altman.
SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle are collaborating on the Stargate project, which has received backing from President Donald Trump, with an investment of up to $500 billion aimed at enhancing artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.
According to Son, the Stargate initiative is set to extend its reach into Japan and other countries.
The technology industry has been disrupted by the recent revelation from the Chinese company DeepSeek, which claims to have developed highly intelligent yet affordable AI solutions.
The partnership between SoftBank and OpenAI through SB OpenAI Japan marks a significant step forward in the evolution of artificial intelligence. By integrating cutting-edge AI services like Cristal into SoftBank’s subsidiaries and other businesses, both companies are poised to drive innovation across multiple sectors, from marketing to digital payments.
RELATED: DeepSeek: The Chinese AI App Captivating the World.
The collaboration promises to enhance productivity, unlock new efficiencies, and provide transformative solutions for enterprises, particularly in Japan. With substantial investments and the addition of deep research features to AI capabilities, this venture will undoubtedly accelerate AI adoption, benefiting industries worldwide and positioning SoftBank and OpenAI as leaders in AI development.
