SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son plans to raise $100 billion for a new chip venture called Project Izanagi, aiming to rival Nvidia in artificial intelligence processors, Bloomberg reports. This was reported based on a person involved. Son envisions this work contributing to the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), leading to a future where machines surpass human intelligence.
The project aims to complement SoftBank's Arm Holdings in designing processor architectures. However, it is unclear whether the AI processors designed by Project Izanagi will rely on technologies such as the instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Arm. Additionally, it remains to be seen how this venture will coexist with Arm's purported plans to create reference chip designs for various workloads. Interestingly, the venture is named after the Japanese god of creation and life, reflecting Son's ambitious vision for the project.
Building a company that can compete with Nvidia is difficult. This green company not only has an impressive pool of hardware engineers and competitive hardware, but also a ubiquitous CUDA software stack. It's hard to compete with something that has been evolving for over 16 years.
Project Izanagi is part of Son's broader focus on AGI, which he believes will be realized within the next 10 years. He has consistently advocated for the adoption of AI to create a safer, healthier, and happier world. Despite facing numerous setbacks investing in startups, Son's enthusiasm for his AGI is intense, to say the least. He told Japanese business customer groups to adopt AI or risk being left behind, highlighting the transformative potential of AGI.
“AGI is what all AI experts are pursuing,” Son said, according to Bloomberg. “But when you ask them about the detailed definitions, the numbers, the timing, the computing power, how much smarter AGI is than human intelligence, most people don't have an answer. […] I have my own answer. AGI believes he will make it happen within 10 years. ”
SoftBank is in good financial shape, with cash and cash equivalents of 6.2 trillion yen ($41 billion) as of Dec. 31. According to the report, Son plans to invest $30 billion from SoftBank, with the remaining $70 billion likely to come from Middle Eastern institutions. According to Bloomberg, financing and execution details are still being determined, and the project could evolve further as plans solidify. Son has a dynamic approach to investing and is known for changing his mind at short notice.
This effort is separate from OpenAI's collaboration with Sam Altman, but Son and Altman are reportedly in talks about collaborating on semiconductor manufacturing.
