SoftBank continues its transformation and is preparing to further invest in artificial intelligence (AI). According to its CEO, Masayoshi Son, technology is emerging as the future of the conglomerate.
Capitalizing on the AI boom
Over the past twelve months, SoftBank’s capital expenditures have more than doubled to $8.9 billion. ” In principle, we will maintain the same kind of trend with regard to the pace of investment activities. From now on, we want to ramp up investments in AI companies ,” Yoshimitsu Goto, the company’s chief financial officer, told the Financial Times . Last month, it invested $1 billion in the British self-driving car company Wayve.
After a turbulent period, marked by the $14 billion investment in WeWork before the startup’s collapse , SoftBank is now well-positioned to capitalize on the generative AI boom. Last year, Masayoshi Son promised to launch a ” counter-offensive ” to leverage the emergence of the technology popularized by ChatGPT.
The businessman has radically transformed the group into an investment giant. The goal now is to reshape SoftBank and its Vision Funds with a focus on AI. In this context, energy production and data centers are of particular interest to the company.
Arm, in SoftBank’s AI plans?
” I realized that what I really wanted to become was an architect, to design the future of humanity. I want to realize several [of my inventions] one by one and Arm will provide me with the key. By using Arm’s position and combining it with my ideas, we will have an extraordinary opportunity ,” the billionaire declared in 2023.
A few weeks later, Arm had the largest IPO of the year, raising nearly $5 billion. SoftBank remains a majority shareholder and is now looking to leverage the chip designer to strengthen its AI business.
Arm is reportedly already working on the design of chips dedicated to artificial intelligence . Several hundred billion yen have apparently been invested in the project. Yoshimitsu Goto, however, declined to comment on this information. Meanwhile, the company is reportedly in talks to acquire another British chip manufacturer, Graphcore.
Nevertheless, SoftBank will have to contend with fierce competition, as most tech giants have already invested billions of dollars in generative artificial intelligence.
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