Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank Group, plans to raise $100 billion for a new chip venture called Project Izanagi, aiming to rival Nvidia in artificial intelligence processors, reports Bloomberg, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Son envisions this initiative as contributing to the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), leading to a future where machines surpass human intelligence.
The project seeks to complement SoftBank’s Arm Holdings, which designs processor architectures. But it is unclear whether the AI processors designed by Project Izanagi will rely on technologies such as instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Arm. Furthermore, how the venture will co-exist with Arm’s purported plans to create reference chip designs for various workloads remains to be seen. An interesting wrinkle is that the venture is named after the Japanese god of creation and life, reflecting Son’s ambitious vision for the project.
“AGI is what every AI expert is after,” Son is reported to have said by Bloomberg. “But when you ask them about a detailed definition, a number, the timing, how much computing power, how much smarter AGI is than the human intelligence, most of them don’t have an answer. […] I have my own answer: I am convinced AGI will be real in 10 years.”
SoftBank’s financial position is strong, with ¥6.2 trillion ($41 billion) in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31. According to the report, Son intends to invest $30 billion from SoftBank, with the remaining $70 billion potentially sourced from Middle Eastern institutions. The specifics of the funding and execution are still being determined, and the project may evolve further as plans solidify, according to Bloomberg. Son’s approach to investment is dynamic, and he is known for abruptly changing his mind.