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SoftBank\u2019s billionaire CEO Masayoshi Son is known for being quite the character. The eccentric Japanese investor\u2014who began his career by starting a video game company that he later sold to electronics giant Kyocera\u2014has made a name for himself investing billions in trendy startups that have the potential to change the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sometimes, like in the case of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, this strategy leads to monumental returns and praise from investors, but other times, it ends in tragedy<\/a> and tears<\/a> (literally). Son described in 2019 how his multibillion-dollar miss on the coworking giant WeWork<\/a> left him in agony, but he promised to learn from the \u201cvery harsh lesson<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n SoftBank\u2019s performance in recent years has perfectly epitomized Son\u2019s hit-or-miss track record and penchant for drama, however. The multinational holding company\u2019s flagship Vision Fund posted a then-record $27 billion loss<\/a> in its fiscal year 2021, which ended on March 31, 2022, as many of its high-growth and tech stocks were hammered by the threat of rising interest rates, leading Masayoshi Son to go into what he called \u201cdefense\u201d mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n That tactic didn\u2019t prove helpful in SoftBank\u2019s fiscal year 2022, which ended on March 31, 2023, however. The Vision Fund posted another record $32 billion loss<\/a> after big misses on the Chinese AI company SenseTime and the Indonesian ride-hailing and e-commerce giant GoTo<\/a> weighed on results. This time, the poor performance led the always unconventional Son to say he was going back to \u201coffense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, that old-made-new tactic has worked: SoftBank\u2019s flagship fund managed to rake in $4.6 billion after the success of some of its more high-profile investments, including the U.K. chip designer Arm, TikTok owner ByteDance, and the food-delivery company DoorDash<\/a>, in its fiscal year 2023, which ended on March 31, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n But now, after facing stumbling blocks, admitting his mistakes, promising to learn from them, and coming out on the other side with a profit, Son has turned<\/a> to a new obsession: artificial superintelligence (ASI).<\/p>\n Forget AI, or even the \u201choly grail\u201d of artificial general<\/em> intelligence that\u2019s supposed to be smarter than the average human: Softbank\u2019s CEO foresees a future dominated by ASIs that are 10,000 times smarter than even the most intelligent person on the planet. Moreover, the billionaire said, he believes he was put on Earth to make this future a reality.<\/p>\n \u201cSoftBank was founded for what purpose? For what purpose was Masa Son born? It may sound strange, but I think I was born to realize ASI. I am super serious about it,\u201d Son told shareholders at an annual meeting last week, per CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The billionaire argued that every investment he\u2019s made throughout his career, from Uber<\/a> to Alibaba, was all just a \u201cwarm-up\u201d for his AI investments. \u201cRealizing ASI is my only focus,\u201d he said, the Financial Times<\/em> first reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n This extreme AI focus follows SoftBank\u2019s promise to make five separate large-scale AI investments of at least $1 billion in May. Son had already backed multiple AI companies before the announcement\u2014including his $200 million into Tempus<\/a> AI, a medical-data analysis startup in April\u2014but now the pace seems to have picked up.\u00a0<\/p>\n SoftBank\u2019s latest bet came just this week, when it backed the trendy AI internet search startup Perplexity AI<\/a>, which hopes to compete with the likes of Google<\/a>, at a $3 billion valuation, per Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n In his meeting with shareholders last week, Son also highlighted opportunities in autonomous driving, AI robotics, data centers, and more that he will be looking into moving forward. In his typical style, the billionaire then launched into a heartfelt, introspective discussion of his investing life.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo years ago, I am getting old, rest of my life is limited, but I haven\u2019t done anything yet and I cried so hard,\u201d he said, recounting how he felt during the dark period for SoftBank in 2022.<\/p>\n Now, Son said he\u2019s more clear on his purpose than ever. \u201cThis is what I was born to do, to realize ASI,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the Fortune Next to Lead newsletter to get weekly strategies on how to make it to the corner office. Sign up for free<\/a>.<\/div>\n