Japanese investment giant SoftBank has unveiled a new joint venture in Japan alongside OpenAI to offer AI services to corporate customers.

Named SB OpenAI Japan, the JV will develop and market OpenAI’s Advanced Enterprise AI – Cristal Intelligence. Additionally, SoftBank has also committed to spending $3bn annually to deploy the solution across its group companies, including AI technology developer Arm and SoftBank Corp.

Announced by SoftBank Group CEO, Masayoshi Son, on Monday (3 February), this increases the fund’s exposure to OpenAI, after Reuters reported last week that SoftBank plans to invest between $15bn and $25bn in OpenAI.

Son commented: “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 organization and utilising our great partnership with OpenAI to drive the AI Revolution forward.”

Last year, OpenAI launched its o1-series of reasoning models which can provide deeper answers to prompts by “thinking” about the questions.

Now, according to SoftBank, the next step in this development is AI agents capable of doing work independently, such as generating financial reports, drafting documents and managing customer enquiries. 

Therefore, Cristal Intelligence offers a service customised for the needs of each enterprise which will “empower professionals to focus on creativity and strategic decision-making”.

“This partnership with Softbank will accelerate our vision for bringing transformative AI to some of the world’s most influential companies – starting with Japan,” added OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman. 

Cementing SoftBank’s AI legacy

This latest news not only increases SoftBank’s substantial investment in AI but also cements the fund as a key player in shaping the trajectory of AI development worldwide. 

In recent weeks, SoftBank, alongside OpenAI and Oracle, led the formation of the US-based joint venture Stargate, which has pledged an initial $100bn investment round to develop AI infrastructure in the US.

The launch of Stargate marked the second appearance of SoftBank CEO Son alongside US President Donald Trump since his election in November.

Trump, who is vocally pro-AI, described the joint venture, which could be worth up to five times the initial investment, as a “resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential under a new president”.