Rakuten Billionaire Defends Costly Mobile Foray With Big AI Bet
- Wireless arm weighs on online retailer’s cash-churning units
- CEO Hiroshi Mikitani faces crowded arena for Japan AI lead
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Rakuten Group Inc.’s chief dismissed skeptics who call the Japanese e-commerce pioneer’s mobile foray a mistake and said the telecom arm is central for future growth through artificial intelligence.
A decision to enter Japan’s cutthroat wireless market has saddled Rakuten with four years of losses, weighing on its cash-churning online shopping mall and finance operations. But that mobile arm and its 8 million-plus users help train an AI poised to expand the conglomerate’s business, according to billionaire founder Hiroshi Mikitani.