Robots Will Outnumber Humans In 30 Years Believes SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son

Super-smart AI will give even the smartest of future humans a severe inferiority complex. That¡¯s what Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japan¡¯s SoftBank, truly, madly and deeply believes!

Masayoshi Son Softbank CEO (Reuters)

Taking the stage at this year¡¯s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Masayoshi Son delivered an unconventional keynote address, speaking about the impending robot revolution and smart AI in such hyperbole that it left analysts and commentators scratching their heads.

Son envisions a not-too-distant future where smart, super-intelligent robots will exceed in number than all of the humanity combined, where robots will come in every shape and size imaginable. They will fly, swim, have two legs or multiple limbs, be depending on their task. And all of this will happen in just 30 years from now.

Masayoshi Son also firmly believes that singularity will be achieved within the next 30 years, as well. Singularity is the moment when artificial intelligence will truly surpass human intelligence, where it starts beating us at our own game, triggering an era of phenomenal upheaval in the human condition itself. ¡°I totally believe this concept,¡± reaffirms Son.

And Son¡¯s in a hurry to realise the vision he laid out in front of the world at Mobile World Congress yesterday.

Under Masayoshi Son¡¯s leadership, SoftBank launched the ambitious US $100 billion investment fund called the SoftBank Vision Fund, which essentially is the largest startup fund in the world. The fund¡¯s focusing on bringing AI and IoT (Internet of Things) projects to life quicker than ever before. According to Techcrunch, the fund has backing from Saudi Arabia¡¯s largest public fund, along with heavyweight tech contributors like Apple, Foxconn, Apple, Qualcomm and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison¡¯s family office.

SoftBank buys ARM Holdings For US $32 Billion

SoftBank also separately purchased ARM Holdings, last year, which is the largest mobile chip designer on earth at the moment. ARM chips power almost all smartphones at the moment and will make up at least 80% of all IoT devices, if not more, according to Masayoshi Son. And the number of IoT devices is only going to increase, Son believes, estimating that there will be at least a hundred IoT devices per person by 2035, than only two such IoT devices per person as it was back in 2010.

Seems a bit too Machiavellian? Perhaps. Is there cause for concern from the inescapable robot revolution we seem to be hurtling towards? *Gulp*