SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Warns of AI Supremacy as South Korea Forges Chip Alliances

Masayoshi Son delivered a stark warning about artificial superintelligence during talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. The SoftBank founder predicted AI systems WOULD soon outthink humans by orders of magnitude—"10,000 times smarter"—framing coexistence with such intelligence as humanity's next existential challenge.

The discussions coincided with Seoul signing a semiconductor education pact with Arm Holdings. The UK chip designer will establish a training academy to develop 1,400 elite engineers, addressing South Korea's talent gap in system semiconductors and fabless production. Arm's royalty-based business model positions it as an ideal partner for Seoul's ambitions.

President Lee's aggressive AI roadmap has already attracted commitments from tech titans. Samsung and SK Hynix recently inked deals to supply memory chips for OpenAI's data centers, while Nvidia pledged to deliver over 260,000 advanced AI processors. The initiatives underscore Korea's determination to rank among the world's top three AI powers—a vision bolstered by Lee's recent summits with OpenAI's Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang.