SoftBank, NEC, Sony Group and Honda Motor have taken the lead in establishing a new company to develop Japanese-made artificial intelligence, informed sources said Sunday.The new company will make its high-performance AI available to Japanese companies for broad use, aiming to overtake U.S. and Chinese firms that are leading in this field.SoftBank, NEC, Sony and Honda each took a stake of more than 10% in the new firm, while several other firms are negotiating to invest as minority shareholders, according to the sources.Engineers from SoftBank and Tokyo-based AI developer Preferred Networks Inc. are expected to participate in the development, they…