PlayStation 'Father' Kutaragi Founds New Online Networking Company

Former Sony boss and "father of the PlayStation" Ken Kutaragi has started a new company, Cyber AI Entertainment, focused on online networking operations. Kutaragi owns a 90 percent stake and will serve as president of the new organization, which Nikkei reports may even be working in the cloud computing arena to develop a new entertainment platform. He's joined by former Sony engineer Takashi Usuki, who owns the remaining 10 percent share in the company and will serve as a member of the board. "We'll initially focus on research and development relating to information processing, targeting cutting-edge networking operations," Kutaragi says. Many industry-watchers believe the future of video games and entertainment will see products streamed from a platform-independent server cloud, eliminating the need for packaged software or multiple hardware platforms. Kutaragi stepped down from his executive management position at Sony in June 2007 to serve as SCEI’s Honorary Chairman, and then-president and chief operating officer Kazuo Hirai assumed his role. He sits on the board of prominent cross-media and publishing conglomerate Kadokawa Group Holdings and has earned numerous recognitions and lifetime achievement awards for his contribution to the video game industry.