The way AI deals are structured today resembles a circle of life, but one focused on profit that ensures money ultimately returns to the same entities. A prime example is SoftBank. The conglomerate is investing tens of billions into OpenAI and committing dozens of billions more to construct AI data centers and infrastructure. It has now launched a joint venture with OpenAI in Japan. This venture, named SB OAI Japan, will localize and sell OpenAI’s enterprise technology to Japanese companies. The first customer for this new joint venture will be SoftBank itself.
SB OAI Japan is owned equally by SoftBank and OpenAI. It will provide a service called Crystal intelligence, described as a packaged enterprise AI solution aimed at corporate management and operations in Japan. According to SoftBank, Crystal intelligence is designed to help organizations enhance productivity and management efficiency by adopting advanced AI tools. The solution integrates OpenAI’s enterprise offerings with localized implementation and support from the joint venture.
SoftBank appears committed to fueling the AI hype cycle and its resulting revenues. The conglomerate stated that all its employees are actively using AI in their daily work and that it has already created 2.5 million custom ChatGPT instances for internal use. SoftBank plans to implement the joint venture’s solutions across its various business units. It will validate the solutions’ effectiveness for product development and business transformation, then pass on the insights and expertise it gains to other companies through SB OAI Japan.
This joint venture emerges as analysts express concerns about the enormous sums of money being directed toward AI development and related efforts. They also point to the extremely high valuations given to companies benefiting from the AI boom. This movement is being compared to the dot-com boom, when widespread internet adoption led to a surge in venture capital and inflated valuations. Similar patterns have occurred over recent decades, where massive investments were made into unproven business models without clear evidence of meaningful returns on investment.