AI will overtake human IQ in 30 years: SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son

SoftBank Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Masayoshi Son on Monday outlined his vision for artificial intelligence (AI) and said computers running AI programs will exceed human intelligence within three decades.

Delivering a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Son said he expects one computer chip to have the equivalent of 10,000 IQ within this period.

"In the past 2,000 years, the hardware in our brains has not improved... In the next 30 years, AI will overtake human intelligence," he said.

Son added that with the strong growth seen for Internet of Things (IoT), the number of embedded chips that are recording and transforming data into something useful will top "one trillion".

Son, who sported a black turtleneck sweater and black pants, joked that even a pair of sneakers will have more computing power that a person.

It was this belief in AI that drove his decision for $32 billion acquisition of microchip designer ARM.

"Why do I spend this money? Because I have a vision for the next 30 years. Super intelligence is going to become a reality," he said.

This belief in the potential of superintelligent robots becoming mainstay is also one of the reasons for Son establishing the world's biggest venture capital fund of $100 billion to invest in new age technology firms.

The fund was announced last October and has the backing from Saudi Arabia's public investment fund as one of the partners as well as firms like Foxconn, Apple and Qualcomm.

SoftBank has committed to investing $10 billion over the next few years in India. It has already invested in Indian startups like cab hailing platform Ola, e-commerce firm Snapdeal, budget hotel aggregator Oyo and on-demand grocery firm Grofers.