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| Source: SoftBank on-demand video of the announcement. Son (left) and Altman (right) discuss the implications of the announcement. |
OpenAI and the SoftBank Group have partnered to develop and market advanced enterprise AI called Cristal intelligence.
Cristal intelligence aims to securely integrate the systems and data of individual enterprises in custom ways. SoftBank Group will spend US$3 B annually to deploy OpenAI’s solutions across its group companies, making it the first company in the world to integrate Cristal intelligence at scale, as well as deploying existing tools like ChatGPT Enterprise to employees across the entire group.
OpenAI and the SoftBank Group will also establish a joint venture (JV) called SB OpenAI Japan. SB OpenAI Japan will be 50:50 owned by OpenAI and a company established by SoftBank Group and SoftBank. It will serve as a springboard for introducing AI agents tailored to the unique needs of Japanese enterprises while setting a model for global adoption.
In 2024, OpenAI launched their o1-series, AI models capable of reasoning. In 2025, these models will evolve into agents, which are capable of executing assigned tasks independently. SoftBank predicted that AI agents will automate everyday tasks – such as generating financial reports, drafting documents, and managing customer enquiries.
OpenAI, SoftBank Group, Arm and SoftBank said they share a vision to enable AI agents to help make every knowledge worker more effective and solve even more complex problems. With Cristal intelligence, these AI agents will lay the groundwork for even more advanced systems that can learn and adapt to any enterprise’s needs, they said.
As part of its agreement with OpenAI, SoftBank Group companies, including Arm and SoftBank, will be granted priority access in Japan to the latest and most-advanced models developed by OpenAI. Arm and SoftBank will use these technologies to transform their management and operational practices:
- Arm will utilise Cristal intelligence to drive innovation and boost productivity across the company. Cristal intelligence will be deployed across the entire SoftBank
Group, accelerating the development and adoption of AI agents and more
advanced systems within the group.
- By automating and autonomising all of its tasks and workflows, SoftBank will transform its business and services, and create new value. SoftBank plans to automate over 100 million workflows by using Cristal intelligence. While providing data and additional training in a secure manner*, SoftBank aims to boost efficiency and enable the creation of new business opportunities within its ecosystem.
To fully maximise the benefits of AI, it is essential for enterprises to be able to conduct additional training and refining of the model in their own IT environments. SoftBank and the JV will build a secure environment for additional data training and finetuning of its data*, integrated with its internal systems, to build AI agents.
This JV will market Cristal intelligence exclusively to major companies in Japan to meet this need, and enable clients to train their own data in a secure environment and build AI agents that are fully integrated with their own IT systems. By automating and autonomising all of their tasks and workflows, clients will be able to transform their businesses and services, creating new value.
OpenAI will provide its advanced AI research, technology, and engineering support to SB OpenAI Japan, while SoftBank will second its sales staff and engineers to contribute its extensive Japan-based network, operational expertise, and business insights to scale these solutions effectively. Arm’s compute platform will provide the performance, efficiency, and scalability required to support the increasing computational demands of AI agents, from the cloud to the edge.
Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group said: “We are thrilled to bring Cristal intelligence, advanced enterprise AI that is customised specifically for each company, to the market in a big way. This initiative will not only transform the way SoftBank Group operates but also revolutionise the way companies work in Japan and around the globe. SoftBank Group is fully committed to leveraging the new products across our entire organisation and utilise our great partnership with OpenAI to drive the AI revolution forward."
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said: "This partnership with SoftBank will accelerate our vision for bringing transformative AI to some of the world’s most influential companies—starting with Japan."
Rene Haas, CEO of Arm, said: "Arm is partnering with OpenAI and SoftBank to drive unprecedented productivity across the global technology ecosystem, setting new benchmarks and building a future in which AI agents span from edge to cloud on Arm. We are at the forefront of the AI revolution, and our high-performance, energy-efficient compute is going to be critical to advancing the Cristal intelligence.”
Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO of SoftBank said: “To realise our long-term vision of building next-generation social infrastructure with the aim of implementing AI into society, SoftBank Corp. has been promoting various initiatives, including the buildout of distributed AI data centres and Japan top-level AI computing platforms.
"I’m greatly looking forward to seeing how we can transform Japan’s businesses through our partnership with OpenAI. By supporting the implementation and utilisation of Cristal intelligence, we’ll transform the management and operational practices of our clients.”
*Data used for training will not include information related to confidential or personal information used in communications. The parties will explore efforts to secure customer data on the servers of Japan-based AI data centres.
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