SoftBank Group announced Tuesday it will launch a cybersecurity service leveraging OpenAI to diagnose and repair system vulnerabilities [1].
The initiative targets critical infrastructure in Japan, including the power and financial sectors, to prevent societal paralysis caused by AI-driven attacks [1, 2].
Masayoshi Son, chairman and president of SoftBank Group, said the current threat landscape is a significant crisis for Japan. He compared the risk to the arrival of the "Black Ships" in the 19th century, which forced the end of Japanese isolation [3].
"I am worried that this could become a tremendous crisis for Japan, perhaps since the arrival of the Black Ships," Son said [3]. He said that an era has arrived where malicious actors use AI to attack systems "like machine guns" [3].
To prepare for the service launch, SoftBank conducted internal investigations across approximately 700 systems [4]. Those tests identified 15,000 security holes [4]. The company intends to use AI to automate the detection and patching of such vulnerabilities to keep pace with the speed of modern cyber threats [1, 2].
SoftBank expects the service to become operational within 2026 [1, 4]. The focus on critical infrastructure stems from a growing concern that AI-powered attacks could overwhelm traditional manual defense mechanisms [2].
“AI-powered attacks could overwhelm traditional manual defense mechanisms”
This move signals a shift toward 'AI vs. AI' warfare in cybersecurity. By automating vulnerability patching for critical infrastructure, SoftBank is attempting to reduce the window of opportunity for attackers who use generative AI to find and exploit software bugs faster than human engineers can fix them.
