The magical thinking of Masa Son

SOFTBANK Group Corp founder Masayoshi Son is nothing if not willing to make the kind of bold bets that other investors might balk at. But his latest pitch – to create a US$1 trillion artificial intelligence hub that manufactures robots in the Arizona desert – may be his most audacious yet.

It comes after an impassioned speech last year when Son said that he was mourning the death of his father and grappling with what his own legacy would be. Then, he had an epiphany: He was “born to” dedicate himself to developing what he calls “artificial super intelligence”, or AI that is thousands of times smarter than humans.

The newfound purpose might be a motivating factor in bringing this new venture, dubbed “Project Crystal Land”, into fruition. But it’s hard to know how much of it is just magical thinking on the part of the Japanese billionaire better known as Masa.