SoftBank Group and OpenAI agreed to jointly develop and market AI systems for enterprises, with the Japan-based company also set to spend $3 billion annually to adopt its partner’s technology.

SoftBank highlighted the partnership, named Cristal intelligence, will securely integrate the systems and data of individual enterprises, offering customised systems for each company.

The pair also set up a joint venture called SB OpenAI Japan, which will market Cristal intelligence to major companies in Japan. The 50:50 JV will serve as a springboard for introducing AI agents tailored to the needs of Japanese enterprises, the pair added in a joint statement.

SoftBank noted it plans to deploy OpenAI’s existing tools such as ChatGPT Enterprise to employees across its related organisations.

SoftBank Group chair and CEO Masayoshi stated partnerships between the two will not only transform the way SoftBank operates but also “revolutionise the way companies work in Japan and around the globe”.

As part the agreement, SoftBank Group companies, including Arm and SoftBank Corp, will have priority access in Japan to the latest models developed by OpenAI.

The adoption of Cristal intelligence by SoftBank Corp, for example, is estimated to enable more than 100 million workflows to be automated.

SoftBank Group reportedly is considering investing up to $25 billion in OpenAI.

Two weeks ago, SoftBank Group, OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-backed MGX partnered on a data centre joint venture in the US, called Stargate, with an initial investment of $100 billion.