SoftBank has committed to a substantial investment in OpenAI's technology, allocating $3 billion annually for its own operations and subsidiaries. The announcement also unveiled a new joint venture, SB OpenAI Japan, focused on marketing OpenAI's enterprise solutions to major Japanese businesses. This strategic move follows reports of OpenAI's potential $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank.
SoftBank has made a significant commitment to OpenAI's technology, pledging $3 billion annually for its own use and that of its subsidiaries. This announcement, made jointly on Monday, also revealed a new partnership: SB OpenAI Japan , a venture dedicated to marketing OpenAI's enterprise solutions exclusively to major Japan ese corporations.
This move follows closely on the heels of CNBC's confirmation that OpenAI is in discussions to raise up to $40 billion in funding, led by Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, at a potential valuation of up to $340 billion.SoftBank's $3 billion investment will grant it access to a suite of OpenAI tools, branded as 'Cristal Intelligence'. This includes ChatGPT Enterprise, OpenAI's API, custom models, and agent products like the one described as an 'agent that can go to the web to perform tasks for you,' such as planning vacations or filling out forms. It will also provide access to OpenAI's latest agent feature, 'Deep Research,' which OpenAI claims will be capable of conducting multi-step analysis on the web. Arm, the British chip designer acquired by SoftBank in 2016, will also leverage OpenAI tools to 'boost productivity across the company,' according to the announcement. During a livestreamed event held jointly by SoftBank, SoftBank Group, OpenAI, and Arm, executives representing companies accounting for over half of Japan's total market capitalization were in attendance. At the event, Son expressed his belief that artificial general intelligence (AGI) — a broadly defined benchmark referring to AI that matches or surpasses human intellect across a wide range of tasks — will become a reality within less than 10 years. Son stated his conviction that 'AGI can be achieved in large enterprise businesses first,' acknowledging the 'quite the huge amount of money' required and that such funds are currently 'only available in large enterprises at the moment.' SoftBank is expected to contribute between $15 billion and $25 billion to OpenAI's upcoming funding round. If finalized, this investment would solidify SoftBank's position as the leading investor in OpenAI, surpassing previous investments
SOFTBANK OPENAI INVESTMENT JOINT VENTURE JAPAN AI ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AGI CHATHGPT CRYSTAL INTELLIGENCE ARM
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