The head of Japan’s technology and investment conglomerate SoftBank Group says artificial intelligence is set to make huge contributions to the global economy.
Chairman and CEO Son Masayoshi dismissed concerns about overinvestment in the technology and said he is confident the company will recoup its massive spending on AI in a short period.
“I would say at least 10 percent of global GDP would be substituted by superintelligence and physical AI robots,” Son said.
He made the comments at an investment forum in Tokyo on Monday. He said that AI could become 10,000 to 100,000 times smarter than humans in the coming decades.
He added that this potential is driving the surge in AI-related shares and investors who see the industry in a bubble are “not smart enough.”
Son also commented on SoftBank’s recent unexpected sale of its holdings in AI chip giant Nvidia. He said he wanted to keep the stake and was “crying” over the divestment, but needed to raise funds for other AI projects.