Since launching the nearly $100 billion Vision Fund, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has invested in a diverse collection of companies with one common thread.
The SoftBank Vision Fund, announced in October 2016, includes funds from Son’s Japanese conglomerate as well as Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and various large tech firms including Apple, Foxconn, Qualcomm and Sharp. Thus far it has invested in around 25 public and private companies, spanning broadband and telecommunications, media, ecommerce, gaming, and more recently, self-driving robots, mapping and vertical farming, among others.
Softbank is also a big investor in ride-hailing companies, including major Uber rivals Didi Chuxing in China, Ola in India, Grab in Southeast Asia and 99 in Brazil. Collectively, this gives Softbank a network of companies that mine valuable logistics data and operate large, connected fleets that could work with self-driving technology. The group is also looking to acquire a substantial piece of Uber itself, though as of this writing the deal is tentative.
Other SoftBank investments, which may or may not be offered to the Vision Fund, include companies specialising in virtual reality, industrial software, satellite-based Internet, online personal finance as well as self-driving cars, among others.
Data collection is a key piece of the puzzle. As the New York Times explains, all of the companies are “involved in collecting enormous amounts of data, which are crucial to creating the brains for the machines that, in the future, will do more of our jobs, and creating tools that allow people to better coexist.”
Son is known for his belief in the “Singularity” – a state of the world in which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and the labour force is transformed by robots. The Japanese billionaire has said he is on a mission to own pieces of all of the companies that could underpin the expected global shifts in transportation, food, medicine and finance. As Rajeev Misra, who helps oversee the Vision Fund put it, the companies are all part of SoftBank’s plan to invest in “the foundational infrastructure for the next stage of the Information Revolution.”
“For Masa, his vision is not just about predictions like the Singularity, which has gotten a lot of hype,” said Eric Gundersen, Chief Executive of mapping start-up Mapbox, in which the Vision Fund has invested. “He understands that we’ll need a massive amount of data to get us to a future that’s more dependent on machines and robotics.” Son has gone so far as to predict that in 30 years, sentient robots or “metal collar workers” will equal humans in number. “Every industry that mankind ever defined and created, even agriculture, will be redefined,” he said.
Son’s vision for the future of artificial intelligence and its integration into nearly every aspect of life seems limitless. “Only people close to him know how huge his vision is,” said Eugene Izhikevich, Chief Executive of Brain Corp, a Vision Fund recipient and maker of software for autonomous robots.
