TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp. said Thursday it will launch a service by the end of this year that suggests appropriate cancer treatment by analyzing genetic information and other health care data using artificial intelligence.
The Japanese technology investor will establish a joint venture with US startup Tempus AI Inc. to launch the service in Japan, in an effort to promote tailored medication. The joint venture will begin operations in August.
“The time has come for AI to contribute to medical care,” SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son told a press conference in Tokyo.
Referring to the potential of artificial superintelligence, which is predicted to be 10,000 times more intelligent than humans, Son said, “I think it will make it possible to save people from intractable diseases that could not be saved by human wisdom.”
The joint venture, SB Tempus Corp., will have capital of 30 billion yen and will be equally invested in by SoftBank Group and Tempus AI.
It will initially collect health care data such as electronic medical records in cooperation with 13 hospitals in Japan, while using anonymized data of 7.7 million patients accumulated by Tempus AI in the United States.
“We want to increase the number of (cooperative) hospitals to 300 to 500,” Son said.
Tempus AI was established in 2015 and has received investment from SoftBank Group. It was listed on the U.S. Nasdaq stock market in June.
JIJI Press