One Man Is Raising $100 Billion to Build Computer Chips With an IQ of 10,000

In Brief

•   SoftBank is creating and investing $25 billion into a Vision Fund with international backing, with a goal of raising $100 billion to use to spur technological innovation.

•   The company's CEO, Masayoshi Son, is eager for humanity to reach a technological singularity, and he is willing to invest big money to make it happen.

The Singularity

Propelled by our many rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and computing, humanity is hurtling toward a technological singularity, a moment in time at which we finally create an artificial superintelligence that is as smart, or perhaps smarter, than we are.

This achievement would advance us further than we ever thought possible. We would see technological growth at breakneck speeds, resulting in changes to our society that we could barely fathom today.

While the concept is exciting, we are still many years away from seeing it in reality. However, that isn’t stopping companies all across the world from doing what they can to be the first to reach this monumental milestone in our technological future.

In Come The Billionaires

Japan’s second richest man and CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, is a strong believer in the singularity. While he’s known for stating his belief in the phenomenon, his actions express his passion far more clearly.

Son’s company, SoftBank, recently acquired semiconductor and software design company ARM Holdings plc as part of his plan to ensure SoftBank is the company to reach the singularity. The $32 billion deal was secured so that ARM Holding would develop chips specialized for artificial intelligence. Son is convinced that he will have a computer chip that has an IQ equivalent to 10,000 in the next three decades.

If that wasn’t enough, Softbank is in the process of creating a $100 billion Vision Fund with many other backers, including Saudi Arabia. Son explained the move in a press release:

With the establishment of the SoftBank Vision Fund, we will be able to step up investments in technology companies globally. Over the next decade, the SoftBank Vision Fund will be the biggest investor in the technology sector. We will further accelerate the Information Revolution by contributing to its development.

Softbank will invest $25 billion in the fund over the next 5 years, while the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will consider investing 45 billion, alongside other large global investors to total $100 billion. With big money propelling the tech forward, Son just might be able to shave a few years off his 2047 singularity prediction.

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