The world according to Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son

Softbank Group's shareholder meeting was a tour de force in risk, reward, the chase for artificial superintelligence and a dash of delusion. Reading through the transcript of Son riffing on AI you're left with snippets of a Billy Joel tune. Son may be right. He may be crazy.

Here's what we learned from Son on Softbank’s shareholder meeting presentation and Q&A.

Son is a planner and he has no plans to hand over the reins. Son talked about how Softbank had a 30-year vision in the early years. When he was 19, Son had a 50=-year life plan. He said:

"I had a 50-year life plan as a businessperson. In my 20s, get acknowledged as a businessperson. In my 30s, I would finance the war chest, and so on. So, there are three chapters that I set out for my 50-year life plan. Now I am 68 years old. In my 60s, the plan was to hand over business to the next generation. But now I'm 68, I became more greedy. I'm still healthy. I will play the ping-pong with young employees."

Son is now thinking about his 70s. "In my 70s, I would like to pursue Artificial Superintelligence. I want to be #1, of course. It has to be #1. That's my character. Of course, in Japan, I have to be overwhelming #1. And even in the world, we want to be #1. So, we will do it. I will do it," he said.

Don't worry, said Son. Humans will evolve via superintelligence.

Softbank is betting big on robotics and physical AI. Son said robots will be able to interact, tackle complex tasks and cooperate to work in high-risk areas. "At the factories, there are the labor shortage. Especially in Japan, we are in the aged society. So, the labor power is in short here and there. Even at the farm, there are difficulty finding the successor, but that's also the area that the super AI robot can help and support," said Son. "We want to create leading robotic company. So, we have those robotics companies underneath our SoftBank Group umbrella to get ready for AI robotics in the future."

Softbank now owns ABB Robotics too.

• SoftBank's ABB robotics purchase boosts physical AI plans
• Softbank buys Ampere for $6.5 billion, says complements Arm, AI infrastructure push
• AI infrastructure becomes one big leveraged bet

Arm, a Softbank company, will run those robots and every AI data center. Why? Power efficiency. "Power can be a limitation. So, AI infrastructure or data center which can be a limitation of AI evolution, we want to be the best AI infrastructure provider in the world," said Son.

Softbank made a bundle on Nvidia, but is planning for the next phase and the CPU boom. "In the world of agentic AI, the CPU not the GPU will play a more central role. Arm is absolute #1 in the world," said Son, who noted Arm is listed but Softbank owns 90% of it. "The strength of Arm is power consumption. Arm is tremendously good compared to Nvidia. Again, people say it's crazy for SoftBank to buy Arm. But I said, ‘I look ahead, 50 steps beyond, 50 steps ahead.’ In my mind, I have a vision for 40 steps ahead. Again, Arm will be the winner."

Softbank's secret sauce isn't its holdings but the factory that creates value. In other words, Softbank's secret sauce is the goose not the golden eggs.

"The things that you have to count is not only the number of golden eggs that you see now, but you have to look at potential eggs that the goose can lay in the future, like AI data centers and everything. Those are the things that are not seen yet, but they are inside the goose, if you will. So again, you should not look at only the golden eggs in front of you, you have to find value of the goose because the goose has a capacity to keep laying eggs for 40 years."

Son acknowledged that there are plenty of Softbank doubters. These folks as well as current shareholders should "be happy." "You should be relaxed. So, you feel good. You feel better now," said Son. "You may start being skeptical, but stop."

He said:

"SoftBank Group is the factory of golden eggs. Our role is to help the businesses that we have to become a golden egg. We invest and we nurture the businesses that have potential to be a golden egg in the future."

Well, now it's clear we're investing in a golden goose I feel much better.

Son hearts OpenAI. Softbank's CEO just loves OpenAI. He'll likely love it more if it goes public. "As a serious partner of conversation, my ChatGPT is really helpful," said Son.

In addition, OpenAI is critical to AI evolution and robotics. "We want to make sure that we have the best AI model. We work with OpenAI to keep evolving AI models," said Son.

AI bubble? C'mon on. "The AI revolution has just started. A bubble? I think it's an insult of AI, if you say it's an AI bubble because it's just the beginning. AI's potential will be unlocked. So, in the third year of the Internet revolution, if you could go back to the era like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Amazon back then, maybe those were still start-ups since their foundation like a 3-year old. And if you could go back the years, you would have bought more shares of those companies. And AI, again, is still beginning, and it's been maybe 3 years since AI was born," said Son.

Softbank wants to control all four corners of AI--models, chips, robotics and AI infrastructure. Son said:

"ASI will be coming, and we will control the 4 corners of ASI, the Board. That big vision at least in Japan, nobody else, but me talks about that big vision. In the United States, maybe somebody takes control of only 1 of 4 corners, but I don't think many leaders try to take control of 4 corners, every 4 corner. But out I will do. I will do it.

So, I cannot be retired."