SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son: Superintelligence, AI Investing, and the Future of Robotics

At 17 years old, Masayoshi “Masa” Son saw his first photo of a microprocessor and started crying on the street. He knew it would change the future of mankind. Fifty years later, he’s still betting behind that conviction. On Inside Blackstone, the SoftBank founder and CEO sits down with host Christine Anderson to share his vision for the future of artificial intelligence. He discusses why he believes AI will soon be 10,000 times smarter than people, why superintelligence will be good for humanity long-term, and why he’s against slowing down development. He explains why SoftBank invests across the entire AI ecosystem and how soon he thinks robots will show up in daily life. Plus, he shares how he uses AI as a thought partner up to seven hours a day, and his 70% rule for always thinking big. Then, Christine is joined by special guest Steve Schwarzman for the Debrief. The headlines tell you what happened. Inside Blackstone helps you see what may be coming next. This is Inside Blackstone, our flagship weekly podcast. Blackstone’s Global Head of Corporate Affairs Christine Anderson takes you inside our walls to share the signals we’re seeing across our portfolio of 280+ companies and roughly 13,000 real estate assets — trends in business, technology, and AI — and our conversations with the people shaping the future. No jargon, just a unique read on the real economy. 00:00 — Welcome to Inside Blackstone 01:08 — The Monday Morning Meeting 04:33 — Economic Weather Report 07:14 — Masayoshi Son Comes Inside Blackstone 08:50 — How a Microprocessor Inspired Masa at 17 10:35 — When AI is 10,000 Times Smarter 11:57 — What Life with AI Could Look Like 12:33 — Why Slowing Down AI is the Wrong Answer 15:13 — Betting on the Whole AI Ecosystem 16:31 — Robots Doing the Jobs No One Wants 17:20 — What to Study in the Age of AI 18:34 — How Does Masayoshi Son Use AI? 19:46 — The 70% Rule for Thinking Big 20:36 — Always Thinking 10 Years Ahead 22:31 — Would AI Pick the SoftBank Hawks Lineup? 23:28 — The Debrief with Steve Schwarzman Key Takeaways Infrastructure is an ecosystem. SoftBank invests across large language models (LLMs), chips, and data centers. Son compares AI to the early days of cars, when society created traffic laws and norms. He argues AI needs the same kind of rules and values, and that progress itself is the solution. The future of manual work is on the verge of a major change. Masayoshi Son believes that robots will soon be able to take on a significant amount of today’s tiring and dangerous work. Son urges investors to think long and think big. He says you’ll get about 70% of whatever you aim for, so you might as well dream big. He revises his ten-year vision daily as new information arrives, using AI to debate ideas and sharpen his thinking. Follow us on Social: LinkedIn —   / blackstoneinc   X (Twitter) —   / blackstone   Instagram —   / blackstone   Sign Up for Blackstone Emails: https://www.blackstone.com/email-signup/ Find our Guest Masayoshi Son: X @masason SoftBank: LinkedIn @softbankgroup | X @SoftBank | Facebook @SoftBank Inside Blackstone New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4ARApyY Inside Blackstone is produced for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment, legal, or tax advice, and views expressed by guests are their own. #SoftBank #ArtificialIntelligence #Superintelligence #Robotics #AIInvesting