SoftBank's Masayoshi son to shift to 'offensive mode' as AI booms

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son declared in an emotional meeting with investors that he will go back on the offensive in tech investing soon, seeking to establish his credentials in the burgeoning field of AI.

The billionaire is ending years of dormancy after his Vision Fund, the world's largest pool of tech capital, racked up billions of dollars of losses as a Covid-era internet boom withered and a global economic downturn sapped valuations.

"Since October, I've been askingmyself how many years I have left," the 65-year-old said. "There were times when I felt so empty. 'Is this enough? Is this it?' I cried and cried and couldn't stop crying for days."


Son, who made one of the most lucrative bets in startup investing history when he financed Jack Ma and Alibaba Group, seeks to leave a legacy comparable to that of Apple's Steve Jobs. The Vision Fund, launched in 2017, was a chance to do so, but high-profile misses such as WeWork Inc. sullied his reputation. Tapping the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence tech offers a chance for redemption.

"I wanted to become an architect to build the future of humankind. I may not achieve everything I myself as an individual may not be enough but I want to play a role, to an extent, somehow," he said Wednesday. "The time has come to shift to offense mode."

On Wednesday, a feverish optimism was apparent in the way Son spoke of AI as the foundational element of future. "When your grandkids are our age, I believe they will be living in a reality where the computer is 10,000 times smarter than the sum of all human wisdom," he said. Son said he intends to keep running SoftBank and has found no successor. "I'm having too much fun."