OpenAI, SoftBank Launch $3B AI Partnership for Enterprise Systems

Tokyo, Japan - OpenAI and SoftBank Group have partnered to develop and sell Crystal Intelligence, an enterprise artificial intelligence system customized for individual companies. SoftBank Group will pay $3 billion annually to deploy OpenAI solutions across its group companies.

The companies will establish SB OpenAI Japan, a joint venture with equal 50% ownership between OpenAI and SoftBank's intermediate holding company. 

The venture will become a consolidated subsidiary of SoftBank Corp.

Crystal Intelligence builds upon OpenAI's o1 series AI models launched in 2024. 

By 2025, the system will evolve into autonomous AI agents capable of executing user-directed tasks and automating functions, including financial documentation and customer inquiry management.

SoftBank Corp. aims to automate over 100 million tasks by implementing Crystal Intelligence. 

The system will operate in secure environments for additional learning and fine-tuning, enabling integration with corporate systems.

Arm will provide compute platform support for AI agent computational requirements, delivering cloud-to-edge computing capabilities. 

The partnership designates SB OpenAI Japan as the exclusive distributor of Crystal Intelligence to major Japanese enterprises.

OpenAI will provide the joint venture with advanced AI research, technology, and technical support. 

SoftBank Corp. will contribute engineering and sales personnel, domestic network infrastructure, and maintenance operations.

The implementation will exclude confidential telecommunications information and personal data. 

The companies plan to manage implementation data on AI data center servers within Japan.