PeopleofSuperintelligence

Public voice

Masayoshi Son

Masayoshi Son is SoftBank Group’s founder and chairman and CEO, and he has made artificial superintelligence a strategic goal for the company. He graduated from UC Berkeley with an economics degree, founded SoftBank in 1981, and built a career across Alibaba, Vodafone and Arm. In 2024, SoftBank and Tempus formed a Japanese venture for healthcare services that use AI. The group then joined the Stargate infrastructure project and partnered with OpenAI on enterprise AI; by 2026, Son had set SoftBank’s priorities across frontier models, semiconductors, AI infrastructure and robotics.

Now at
SoftBank Group
Photo of Masayoshi Son

Timeline

  1. Before 1981

    Finishing at Berkeley

    He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an economics degree.

  2. 1981

    Starting SoftBank

    He founded Nihon SoftBank in 1981 and continued as its chairman and CEO.

  3. 2005–2023

    Growing a wider portfolio

    His roles included Alibaba.com director in 2005, Vodafone K.K. chair and CEO from 2006, and Arm chair and executive director from 2016. SoftBank expanded into internet, telecommunications and AI businesses through investments in Alibaba, the acquisition of Arm and the Vision Fund.

  4. June 2024

    Bringing AI into healthcare

    SoftBank and Tempus formed SB Tempus in Japan. The venture planned personalized medical services that use AI and analyze Japanese health data, starting with oncology.

  5. January 2025

    Chairing an AI infrastructure project

    SoftBank became a lead partner in Stargate with financial responsibility, and Son became its chairman. The project announced a plan to invest $500 billion over four years in AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.

  6. February 2025

    Bringing AI to companies

    SoftBank and OpenAI announced Cristal intelligence, a customized enterprise AI product, and agreed to form SB OpenAI Japan to market it to major companies in Japan. SoftBank announced a plan to spend $3 billion each year to deploy OpenAI’s solutions across its companies.

  7. 2026

    Organizing around ASI

    As SoftBank Group chairman and CEO, he set a goal to make the company the No. 1 platform provider for artificial superintelligence. He named frontier AI models, semiconductors, AI infrastructure and robotics as four focus areas.

Sources and credits

Photo: European Communities, 2025 / EC - Audiovisual Service, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY 4.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Masayoshi Son: Emperor of the Internet content.time.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Biography: Masayoshi Son | SoftBank Group Corp. group.softbank. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. SoftBank forms AI healthcare JV in Japan with Tempus techcrunch.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Announcing The Stargate Project | SoftBank Group Corp. group.softbank. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. OpenAI and SoftBank Group Partner to Develop and Market Advanced Enterprise AI | SoftBank Group Corp. group.softbank. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. CEO Message—SoftBank Group Report 2026 | SoftBank Group Corp. group.softbank. Checked 14 October 2026.