SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son: Superintelligence, AI Investing, and the Future of Robotics

At 17 years old, Masayoshi “Masa” Son saw his first photo of a microprocessor and started crying on the street. He knew it would change the future of mankind. Fifty years later, he’s still betting behind that conviction.

On Inside Blackstone, the SoftBank (TYO: 9984) founder and CEO sits down with host Christine Anderson to share his vision for the future of artificial intelligence. He discusses why he believes AI will soon be 10,000 times smarter than people, why superintelligence will be good for humanity long-term, and why he’s against slowing down development. He explains why SoftBank invests across the entire AI ecosystem and how soon he thinks robots will show up in daily life. Plus, he shares how he uses AI as a thought partner up to seven hours a day, and his 70% rule for always thinking big. Then, Christine is joined by special guest Steve Schwarzman for the Debrief.

The headlines tell you what happened. Inside Blackstone helps you see what may be coming next.

Time stamps (full transcript available here)

• 00:00 — Welcome to Inside Blackstone
• 01:08 — The Monday Morning Meeting
• 04:33 — Economic Weather Report
• 07:14 — Masayoshi Son Comes Inside Blackstone
• 08:50 — How a Microprocessor Inspired Masa at 17
• 10:35 — When AI is 10,000 Times Smarter
• 11:57 — What Life with AI Could Look Like
• 12:33 — Why Slowing Down AI is the Wrong Answer
• 15:13 — Betting on the Whole AI Ecosystem
• 16:31 — Robots Doing the Jobs No One Wants
• 17:20 — What to Study in the Age of AI
• 18:34 — How Does Masayoshi Son Use AI?
• 19:46 — The 70% Rule for Thinking Big
• 20:36 — Always Thinking 10 Years Ahead
• 22:31 — Would AI Pick the SoftBank Hawks Lineup?
• 23:28 — The Debrief with Steve Schwarzman

Key Takeaways

• Infrastructure is an ecosystem. SoftBank invests across large language models (LLMs), chips, and data centers.
• Son compares AI to the early days of cars, when society created traffic laws and norms. He argues AI needs the same kind of rules and values, and that progress itself is the solution.
• The future of manual work is on the verge of a major change. Masayoshi Son believes that robots will soon be able to take on a significant amount of today’s tiring and dangerous work.
• Son urges investors to think long and think big. He says you’ll get about 70% of whatever you aim for, so you might as well dream big. He revises his ten-year vision daily as new information arrives, using AI to debate ideas and sharpen his thinking.  

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