SOFTBANK Group founder Masayoshi Son will sketch out plans to bring artificial intelligence (AI) infused medical care to Japan, making a rare public appearance to drive home his resurgent ambitions in AI.
Son will host a Thursday (Jun 27) panel discussion with doctors and other medical professionals on ways to harness AI within their industry, SoftBank said. The billionaire investor is expected in particular to talk about its venture with Tempus AI, a US startup it backed that analyses medical data.
It’s a rare ad-hoc media briefing by Son, who had been limiting his public appearances to set-piece events such as shareholders’ meetings. Just last week, the entrepreneur – sounding more energised than he has in years – spoke in grand terms about his goal of ushering in an era of “artificial super intelligence” to cement his legacy.
Son, at times visibly overtaken with emotion, talked about how he wanted to change the world before he leaves it for good. The 66-year-old invoked Steve Jobs, saying their frequent conversations often left him in tears when he realised his accomplishments paled in comparison with the Apple co-founder’s.
Son declared he’s ready to get back on the offence in investing, ending several quarters of relative inactivity.
Tempus AI is one of a number of recent bets his company has placed in the burgeoning field. SoftBank invested about US$200 million in the company right before the startup went public. They signed an agreement to set up a 30 billion yen (S$254 million) joint venture (JV) dubbed Pegasos, to provide services in Japan similar to Tempus’s in the US, according to a prospectus filed by the startup.
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“It’s arguably the opening round in accelerated AI investment,” said Kirk Boodry, an analyst with Astris Advisory. He estimates SoftBank will invest an additional US$94 million in their Japanese venture.
Their service will include clinical sequencing, organising patient data, and building a “real world data business in Japan”, according to that document. The initial capitalisation of the JV is subject to a number of conditions, including that the parties must agree to a business plan and operating budget, receive an independent valuation of certain Tempus-licensed technology, and obtain required regulatory clearances in the US and Japan.
SoftBank and Tempus will begin training an AI model on patient data this year, aiming to get their service up and running within one to two years, the Nikkei reported earlier.
Son has bigger goals in the long run. SoftBank is working on a plan to deploy some US$100 billion into AI-related chips in a project dubbed Izanagi, Bloomberg News reported in February. BLOOMBERG
