SoftBank Group on Tuesday announced the launch of a cybersecurity product intended to counter breaches enabled by artificial intelligence. Branded "Patching as a Service," the offering is slated for deployment in Japan through the joint venture created in November between SoftBank Corp, the group's domestic telecommunications unit, and OpenAI.
The move tightens the two firms' collaboration on AI integration services for Japanese enterprises and arrives amid heightened concern over the security implications of advanced AI tools. Company executives presented the product at an event for enterprise clients in Tokyo.
Masayoshi Son, SoftBank founder and chief executive, framed the initiative as a defensive measure for national infrastructure, saying, "We want to create a system where we will be able to defend critical Japanese infrastructure." Son added, "We want to leverage the new weapon of OpenAI to defend, we see this as our obligation."
The launch follows recent actions by other governments focused on national security risks tied to advanced AI. Last week, the U.S. government suspended access to Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for foreign nationals over national security concerns - a development referenced during the broader industry discussion about AI-related threats.
SoftBank Group is also a major financial backer of OpenAI. The companies disclosed that SoftBank's cumulative committed investment in OpenAI is projected to reach $64.6 billion by the end of 2026.
Operationally, SoftBank Corp's chief executive Junichi Miyakawa said about 50 people are currently working on the product rollout. That workforce is planned to expand to roughly 1,000 employees as deployment progresses across Japan, according to Miyakawa's remarks at the presentation.
The initiative underscores a focus on using AI tools to fortify defenses against AI-enabled cyber threats rather than solely as offensive capabilities. The product will be provided domestically through the SoftBank-OpenAI joint venture, reflecting a targeted approach to protecting Japanese enterprise and critical infrastructure clients.
Context and focus
The new service positions the joint venture to offer AI-driven cybersecurity to corporate and infrastructure operators inside Japan, leveraging OpenAI models under SoftBank's commercial and strategic umbrella. Company statements highlighted both the need to address new security vectors created by AI and a commitment to scale human resources to support enterprise deployments.