SoftBank and OpenAI Launch Joint Venture in Japan 🤝

Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,

The SoftBank Group and OpenAI have officially launched their joint venture, SB OAI Japan GK, to introduce a specialized, packaged enterprise AI solution called "Crystal intelligence" exclusively to major Japanese companies.

Let’s jump into it!

Read Time: 4.5 min

Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI

• SoftBank and OpenAI Forge Japan Alliances 🤝

• Google AI Mode Gets Agentic Capabilities for Booking

• AI Tutorial: How to Create a Pitch Business Deck with AI

• AI Tools to check out

• AI Findings/Resources

• The Latest in AI and Tech 💡

AI News

OPENAI

SoftBank & OpenAI Forge Japan Alliances

SoftBank Group and OpenAI have officially established a joint venture to accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge AI across Japanese corporations, with a focus on delivering transformative business solutions.

Details:

• The formation of SB OAI Japan GK is 50% owned by OpenAI and 50% owned by SoftBank.

• The new company will roll out an exclusive, packaged enterprise AI solution called "Crystal Intelligence" to transform the corporate management and operations of Japanese businesses using OpenAI's latest technology.

• The solution aims to create AI agents that can autonomously collaborate and execute complex corporate tasks based on specific business objectives.

• SoftBank Corp. will be the first major customer, adopting the technology internally (including in Arm) and committing $3 billion USD annually to its own AI adoption.

• After internal validation, the solution is planned for commercial availability to other Japanese enterprises starting in 2026.

• OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, views the venture as a crucial step in bringing advanced AI to influential global companies through deep, localized partnerships.

This alliance marks a significant step in the global AI race, marrying OpenAI's frontier technology with SoftBank's enterprise reach to deliver localized, autonomous AI solutions. The venture strategically positions SoftBank to lead Japan's corporate digital transformation while securing a major international market for OpenAI's advanced models.

Source

TOGETHER WITH GUIDDE

Create how-to video guides fast and easy with AI

Tired of explaining the same thing over and over again to your colleagues?

It’s time to delegate that work to AI. Guidde is a GPT-powered tool that helps you explain the most complex tasks in seconds with AI-generated documentation.

1️⃣Share or embed your guide anywhere
2️⃣Turn boring documentation into stunning visual guides
3️⃣Save valuable time by creating video documentation 11x faster

Simply click capture on the browser extension and the app will automatically generate step-by-step video guides complete with visuals, voiceover and call to action.

The best part? The extension is 100% free

Check out Guidde

GOOGLE

Google AI Mode Gets Agentic Capabilities for Booking

Google announced the transformation of its AI Mode in Search by introducing powerful "agentic capabilities" in November 2025. This critical upgrade shifts the AI from a passive assistant to an active agent capable of executing complex, real-world tasks, beginning with automated booking for event tickets and beauty appointments.

Details:

• The two main tasks launched are the booking of event tickets (concerts, shows) and beauty/wellness appointments (salons, spas).

• The AI processes natural language requests, then autonomously searches multiple third-party booking sites in real-time, compares prices and seating/timing preferences, and presents a curated list of results.

• The AI handles the discovery and comparison, then provides a direct link to the partner site to finalize the purchase or booking (e.g., Ticketmaster, Booksy).

• This is rolling out as an early experiment to eligible U.S. users enrolled in Search Labs (English, 18+).

• Users subscribed to Google AI Pro and Ultra plans receive higher usage limits for these new agentic features.

• This expansion follows the successful rollout of agentic booking for restaurant reservations in August 2025.

By embedding automated task execution directly into Search, Google is aiming to better compete against rivals like OpenAI's ChatGPT Search and Perplexity AI by transforming Search from a query tool into a transaction-completion platform.

Source

AI Tutorial

How to Create a Pitch Business Deck with Pitch

1. Write short bullets for 10–12 slides. Include the Problem, Solution, Market, Product, Traction, Business Model, Competition, Team, Financials, and Ask.

2. Go to pitch.com, create an account, click 'New Presentation,' and select a pitch or investor template.

3. Inside Pitch, select AI Presentation Maker for the AI to draft structured slides for you by typing short briefs like:
   "Create a 10-slide investor deck for a SaaS startup automating retail inventory, raising $500k."

4. Refine headlines and bullets, replace stock visuals with your product images or data charts, and align with your brand colors.

5. Keep slides clean with one key message per slide. Add speaker notes or quick talking points.

6. Click Share to generate a link or export as PDF/PPTX. Review, practice your Pitch, and update as your business grows.

AI Tools to check out

📈 Driven: Your investing partner, grounded in trusted data and news.

⚙️ Floqer: Automatically keep CRM data up to date so sales and marketing always have accurate info.

🌐 Firecrawl: Convert websites to clean, structured, AI-ready data from any website.

🧭 Jinna.ai: AI Assistant for Business Admin, Finances & Day-to-day Tasks.

🚀 Supernova.io: AI workspace for product teams to create, test, write, and align together.

TOGETHER WITH RIPPLING

Don't get SaaD. Get Rippling.

Disconnected tools don’t speed you up – they slow you down. That’s SaaD (Software as a Disservice).

Rippling unifies HR, IT, and Finance so you can save time, cut costs, and grow faster.

Find out if you and your team are at risk of SaaD today.

How SaaD is your org?

AI Findings/Resources

🛰️ Google to orbit AI data centers to meet demand and save water.

🚀 "We Build, We Ship, We Grow." Harley Finkelstein

🧠 Researchers created artificial neurons to mimic the brain’s functions.

💸 95% of companies get zero value from GenAI investments.

The latest in AI and Tech

Japanese Publishers Demand OpenAI Stop Using Their Content

A trade association representing major Japanese publishers, including Studio Ghibli, has formally requested that OpenAI cease using their copyrighted works for training its AI models without permission.

MultiSensor AI Holdings, Inc. Raises $14.4 M to Fuel Growth

MultiSensor AI announced the pricing of a registered direct offering to raise approximately $14.4 million in gross proceeds, issuing both common stock and pre-funded warrants.

Valeo & 2CRSi Unite to Launch Liquid-Cooling Tech

Valeo and 2CRSi have formed a strategic partnership to develop next-generation liquid cooling solutions for edge data centres, which are crucial for supporting AI and high-performance computing workloads.

SymphonyAI Launches AI-Native Platform

SymphonyAI has introduced Sensa Risk Intelligence, an AI-native solution designed to reduce investigation workloads by 50%, improve detection accuracy, and modernize compliance operations for financial institutions.

Snowflake Inc. Rolls Out Major Updates to Propel Agentic AI at Scale

Snowflake unveiled a comprehensive set of new developer tools and data-cloud enhancements, aiming to enable enterprises to build, test, and deploy "agentic" AI applications more rapidly and securely.

That’s a wrap!

Thanks for sticking with us to the end! Let’s stay connected on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Not subscribed yet? Sign up here and send it to a colleague or friend!

See you in our next edition!

Gina 👩🏻‍💻