Tokyo – SoftBank Group and OpenAI have come together to jointly develop and commercialize ‘Cristal Intelligence,’ an advanced enterprise AI system designed to integrate securely with business operations. SoftBank will invest $3 billion a year in the deployment of OpenAI solutions across its group companies, including Arm and SoftBank Corp.
Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., said, “We are thrilled to bring Cristal intelligence, Advanced Enterprise AI that is customized specifically for each company, to the market in a big way. This initiative will not only transform the way SoftBank Group operates but also revolutionize the way companies work in Japan and around the globe. SoftBank Group is fully committed to leveraging the new products across our entire organization and utilize our great partnership with OpenAI to drive the AI Revolution forward.”
To accelerate adoption in Japan, OpenAI and SoftBank Group will form SB OpenAI Japan, a joint venture that will exclusively market ‘Cristal Intelligence’ to major enterprises. 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.”
SoftBank Corp. intends to use ‘Cristal Intelligence’ to automate over 100 million workflows integrated with its data systems. Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO of SoftBank Corp., highlighted the company’s broader AI ambitions, stating, “We’re extremely pleased to be partnering with OpenAI. To realize 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 centers 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 utilization of Cristal intelligence, we’ll transform the management and operational practices of our clients.”
Arm expects to deploy ‘Cristal Intelligence’ for enhancing productivity through AI. Rene Haas, CEO of Arm, commented, “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.”
SB OpenAI Japan will be co-owned by OpenAI and SoftBank but under the control of SoftBank. The joint venture will allow Japanese enterprises to train AI models safely in their own IT environment. OpenAI will provide technical insights, while SoftBank will contribute its vast network and business know-how.
This collaboration among OpenAI, SoftBank, and Arm will set what is believed to be a global standard for enterprise AI implementation that would create a model for replicating AI-led business transformation.
Source: https://group.softbank/en/news/press/20250203_0
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