Japanese investment firm SoftBank is investing $3 billion annually to encourage its portfolio companies to utilize AI agents. The initiative, a partnership with OpenAI, aims to revolutionize business operations by automating millions of workflows through AI-powered agents.
SoftBank, the Japanese investment firm, is making a bold move in the AI landscape by investing $3 billion annually to push companies within its portfolio to experiment with AI agents. This initiative, undertaken in partnership with OpenAI, aims to create a new product called Cristal Intelligence . This product will leverage OpenAI's advanced reasoning models to develop AI agents capable of autonomously completing tasks without human intervention.
SoftBank envisions automating over 100 million workflows across its portfolio companies, encompassing tasks such as generating financial reports, drafting documents, and managing customer inquiries. They believe this will revolutionize their business operations, services, and ultimately create new value. OpenAI has already introduced a preview of its agentic tool, Operator, for its premium subscribers, who pay $200 per month. This new Cristal Intelligence system will build upon Operator's capabilities, but with a key distinction: it will be trained on the specific data of corporate customers and tailored to their unique systems and requirements. Initially, Cristal Intelligence will be exclusively marketed to major companies in Japan.SoftBank, under the leadership of Chairman Masayoshi Son, has a strong history in the tech venture space, having made early investments in companies like Uber, DoorDash, and Alibaba. However, recent years have seen less successful ventures, particularly in transforming the nature of work. This AI initiative, alongside another joint venture with OpenAI focused on developing AI infrastructure with a planned investment of $500 billion over the next four years, reflects SoftBank's ambition to capitalize on the growing hype and potential of AI agents. This comes amidst significant advancements in the field, including breakthroughs by Chinese companies, further intensifying the global AI race
AI Softbank Openai Cristal Intelligence AI Agents Automation Workflow Optimization
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