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SoftBank’s Son gives a cryptic update on Saudi robot factory

Oct 29, 2024, 9:21am EDT
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Masayoshi Son speaking at FII
Courtesy of Future Investment Initiative (FII)
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RIYADH — SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son offered rare, albeit cryptic, details about a $150 million robot factory he is due to open in Saudi Arabia in December, part of a characteristically optimistic discussion of technology and artificial intelligence at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.

With Alat — a Public Investment Fund company that will deploy $100 billion in chips, AI, and smart infrastructure by 2030 — “we make robots together,” Son said during a panel. “It’s not just the robot, it’s the robot with AI, the robot with the brain. That’s what we do.”

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Alat and SoftBank said in February that they would invest $150 million to build an automated industrial robot manufacturing and engineering hub. The first factory is expected to open in December.

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Son has been a long time believer in the possibility of singularity — the theoretical threshold when AI surpasses human intelligence. When that happens, he said, it will spell the end of labor and suffering for humanity, where AI and robotics free people to pursue art and joy.

“We are born crying and die crying,” Son said. “In between, we should be happy. We should let the robots do the work.”

Saudi Arabia is investing in domestic manufacturing with a focus on using technology to enhance production, supply chains, and logistics as part of its Vision 2030 effort to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels. It aims to have 32,000 smart factories running on clean energy by 2035.

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