At 17, Masayoshi Son saw his first photograph of a microprocessor and decided it would one day outthink the human brain. Fifty years later the founder of SoftBank sat down with Christine Anderson on Blackstone’s Inside Blackstone, published 13 October 2026, to talk superintelligence, investing across the whole AI stack, and the robots that are coming for the dull and dangerous work.
What he says
- A fifty-year-old prediction. The microprocessor photo at 17 convinced him computers would one day outthink people. “I predicted maybe 50 years, it’s damn right, it’s now 50 years.”
- Superintelligence settles the debate. Once AI is ten thousand times smarter than humans, he says, “there’s no more debate” — such systems will start to innovate on their own.
- Good for humanity. He expects AI to help cure diseases such as cancer, prevent traffic accidents and forecast natural disasters, leaving people “more joy, more entertainment, more sports, more family engagement, more friends.”
- Don’t slow down. Like cars needed traffic rules, AI needs rules and values — but the answer is better technology built with good intentions, not less of it: “So, we have to go full speed with the good intent.”
- The whole stack. SoftBank invests across language models, chips, data centres and robotics rather than one layer, takes large stakes and stays involved; it has more than 30 robotics companies in the portfolio.
- A thought mate. He uses AI for hours every day to debate and brainstorm, and revises his ten-year vision as he goes: “I cannot now live without it, you know?”
- Think big. His advice to investors: “Forget about short-term, small money. Think big, okay?” Uncertainty about the next ten years is no reason to stop planning — “Think, think, think!”
Video: Inside Blackstone, Blackstone on YouTube, interview by Christine Anderson. Quotes as published by Blackstone.
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