Japan AI Stocks Surge as SoftBank Joins ChatGPT Clone Race
SoftBank Corp., a mobile unit of SoftBank Group, has announced that it will participate in a global competition to create a version of ChatGPT, which has resulted in several Japanese AI companies experiencing an increase in stock value. During an earnings briefing on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Junichi Miyakawa revealed that SoftBank Corp. founded a new entity in March with around 1,000 people working on developing a Japanese-language version of OpenAI's chat technology. Miyakawa, however, did not provide further details about the project’s goals or progress.
SoftBank's billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son, who has been promoting AI as a transformative force for technology for years, recently brought together a team of engineers to discuss the possibilities of ChatGPT. Miyakawa did not provide details on this meeting either. With SoftBank joining the competition, Appier Group Inc., ExaWizards Inc., and other local software firms have experienced a surge of more than 2% in early trading in Tokyo.
SoftBank's telecom unit is Japan's third-largest mobile operator spanning payments, search engine operator Yahoo Japan Corp, and messaging app Line Corp. The company follows many United States and Chinese corporations and startups trying to introduce their conversational chatbots to the market. To further study the economic potential of AI and how to address its related hazards, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered a new AI panel to be established. Additionally, he said he would lead international rule-making about AI as chair of the Group of Seven democracies. The G-7 summit is set to take place in Hiroshima from May 19.
