What To Know
- In a striking departure from the usual chatter about artificial general intelligence (AGI), the founder-and chief executive of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, predicts that Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) will be a reality sooner than expected.
- While AGI would mimic human-level reasoning—perhaps matching the intelligence of a genius—ASI, he insists, will transcend that, operating on levels of insight, intuition, speed and self-improvement far beyond anything seen today.
AI News: SoftBank CEO Ups the Stakes on AI Future
In a striking departure from the usual chatter about artificial general intelligence (AGI), the founder-and chief executive of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, predicts that Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) will be a reality sooner than expected. Speaking at SoftBank’s annual shareholders meeting in Tokyo, he mapped out timelines that suggest AI’s future will far outstrip current expectations. According to Son, by 2030, AI could be “one to ten times smarter than humans,” rising to an astonishing “10,000 times smarter” by 2035. This AI News report finds these forecasts not merely ambitious but deeply provocative, stirring both hope and anxiety in equal measure.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son warns the age of ASI could be nearer than we think.
Image Credit: AI-Generated
Son made sure to draw a clear distinction between AGI and ASI. While AGI would mimic human-level reasoning—perhaps matching the intelligence of a genius—ASI, he insists, will transcend that, operating on levels of insight, intuition, speed and self-improvement far beyond anything seen today. He also offered a personal twist: SoftBank was founded, he believes, for the explicit purpose of helping create this ASI. He stated that his life’s work has become bound up in that mission – “he was born to realize ASI,” he said.
Aligning with New AI Safety and Capability Movements
Son’s timeline and vision do not stand alone. They align with the ambitions of Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), a new organization founded by figures including Ilya Sutskever, formerly of OpenAI, along with Daniel Levy and Daniel Gross. SSI aims to balance speed of development of AI capabilities with safety, treating safety not as an afterthought but as essential and intertwined with progress.
However, the broader scientific community remains unconvinced that ASI is within such reach. Many argue that even AGI—let alone superintelligence—is still far from being achieved, as AI systems today specialize in narrow tasks and lack general reasoning across diverse domains. Ethical challenges, technological bottlenecks, alignment problems, and potential societal risks all emerge as critical obstacles on the path toward Son’s vision.
Implications for Thailand and the World
If SoftBank’s predictions turn out to be accurate, the effects will ripple globally—including deep transformations in Thailand’s economy, workforce, research sectors and regulation regimes. The arrival of ASI could mean radically accelerated innovation in healthcare, education, logistics and more—but also heightened risks: displaced jobs, bias, misuse, and the urgent need for governance frameworks. Thailand’s AI policymakers, universities, companies and public must begin preparing for possibilities that may once have seemed futuristic.
The rhetoric from Son is breathtaking in its confidence—and it forces us to ask whether our institutions are ready for what might arrive sooner than expected. The race toward ASI appears to be heating up fast—and it will demand bold thinking, ethical clarity and institutional agility. The inevitability implicit in Son’s speech suggests we may need strategies now for safety, benefit sharing, regulation and global coordination.
Son’s projections may seem audacious, yet they are neither vague nor timid. They present a challenge: to turn speculative aspiration into responsible work. How Thailand responds—by catalysing research, building policy, educating the public—will help determine whether ASI becomes a source of unprecedented benefit or of perilous change.
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