By Megumi Fujikawa
TOKYO--SoftBank Group Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said Tuesday artificial intelligence would be overwhelmingly smarter than the human brain and could eventually be used in any industry.
Son told an AI symposium held by the University of Tokyo that artificial general intelligence, which refers to human-like broad reasoning ability, would be like a "crystal ball" that could give a proper answer for any question.
SoftBank had been cautious about making new investments due to huge losses in recent years, but at SoftBank Group's annual shareholder meeting in late June, Son said the company was getting ready to go on the counteroffensive. He said he has been working on his own inventions related to artificial intelligence.
On Tuesday, Son said Japan shouldn't be sidetracked by issues such as electricity efficiency in developing AI.
"We will be able to obtain an unlimited amount of clean and safe energy," he said. "If we care about small issues such as saving electricity, we will be left behind in the world."
Write to Megumi Fujikawa at megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-04-23 0358ET
