SoftBank and OpenAI have announced a new fifty-fifty joint venture this week. The venture will sell enterprise AI tools in Japan under the brand name Crystal Intelligence.
On the surface, this appears to be a straightforward international expansion deal. However, SoftBank’s role as a major investor in OpenAI is raising questions. Observers are questioning whether the biggest AI deals are creating genuine economic value or are simply moving money in circles.
On the TechCrunch Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec and Anthony Ha, along with AI editor Russell Brandom, analyzed the reasons for this skepticism. They discussed what this deal signals about the sustainability of the current AI investment model.