SoftBank launches cybersecurity product based on OpenAI models

Japan's SoftBank Group has ​launched a cybersecurity ​product designed to counter breaches enabled by ​artificial intelligence, the company said on Tuesday.

The "Patching as a Service" product will be rolled out in Japan through a joint ‌venture established ⁠last ⁠November between SoftBank's domestic telecoms arm, SoftBank Corp, and OpenAI.

The ​launch deepens ties between the two firms, which have been developing ​AI system integration services for Japanese businesses, and comes amid growing fears for the security risks posed ​by the latest AI ⁠capabilities.


Last week ‌the U.S. government suspended access to ​OpenAI rival ​Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 ⁠models to foreign nationals over national security concerns.

"We want to create a system where we will be able to defend critical Japanese infrastructure," SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son said at a presentation to enterprise clients in Tokyo.

"We want to leverage the new weapon ‌of OpenAI to defend, we see this as our obligation," Son added.

SoftBank Group ​is one ​of OpenAI's ⁠largest backers and its cumulative committed investment by the end of 2026 stands at $64.6 billion.

At present there are ​around 50 people working on the product rollout and this is set to expand to around 1,000 people, SoftBank Corp chief executive Junichi Miyakawa said at the presentation on Tuesday.