All articles tagged with #softbank
According to The Information, Nvidia is negotiating up to $3 billion in SB Energy—SoftBank's energy unit—to back OpenAI's planned Ohio data center campus, part of roughly $100 billion in credit support; the deal could be staged with half the funds at signing and the rest around SB Energy's anticipated IPO, though Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Iran’s plan to bar U.S. and Israeli ships through the Strait of Hormuz clouds a hoped-for U.S.–Iran deal and pushes oil higher, with copper also reaching a record as demand grows; SpaceX shares rise after the lockup expiry while SoftBank slides despite an earnings beat, reflecting a mixed tech and energy market backdrop.
Asian tech stocks extended their sell-off as semiconductor names led declines after another weak U.S. session, with SK Hynix down more than 15% after missing estimates despite record quarterly profit and Samsung Electronics falling over 8% (LG Innotek and Seoul Semiconductor also slid). The move reflects ongoing deleveraging in Korea and softer sentiment toward global tech stocks, though some investors see value at lower prices. In the U.S., Nvidia opened lower but finished roughly flat, while Intel fell ~6% and AMD ~8%; memory makers Micron and Seagate also dropped. SoftBank slid about 10% as an AI proxy weighs on sentiment, with Taiwan’s TSMC and regional indices broadly weaker.
SoftBank Group’s stock tumbled about 12% in Tokyo after reports that OpenAI may delay its IPO until next year, clouding a potential windfall for SoftBank’s vast portfolio. An OpenAI listing would provide a transparent valuation for SoftBank’s stake in the ChatGPT-maker and hundreds of startups, potentially reducing the conglomerate discount. OpenAI has filed with the SEC and is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, with some sources suggesting a fall listing, though broader tech-market volatility could dampen investor enthusiasm.
Hyundai Motor Group will pay $325 million to buy SoftBank's remaining 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics, gaining full ownership and signaling a shift from demos to production. Atlas is slated to begin in Hyundai's Georgia Metaplant by 2028 with sequencing tasks first, expanding to heavier automation by 2030, aided by Hyundai Mobis components; SoftBank pivots toward AI infrastructure via Roze AI, while Boston Dynamics becomes a manufacturing platform within Hyundai's ecosystem.
SpaceX’s historic IPO has vaulted its backers into the top tier of inflation-adjusted venture-capital gains, with multiple funds (Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, DFJ Growth, Sequoia, 137 Ventures, and others) posting multibillion-dollar, inflation-adjusted returns. The piece shows SpaceX investors now dominate the 10 biggest VC checks of all time, eclipsing classic bets like eBay via Benchmark; many of these gains remain paper profits due to lock-ups, and Google-backed deals are noted as excluded from the top ten for methodological reasons.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says the AI revolution is about 50 times bigger than the dot-com boom and unveils a €75 billion plan to build AI infrastructure in France, including 5 GW of data-center capacity (with 3.1 GW in Hauts-de-France by 2031) in partnership with Schneider Electric, as the company positions France as Europe’s AI hub while expanding in the US; he also notes that any downturn could present a buying opportunity.
SoftBank has pledged up to €75bn to build a Europe‑largest network of AI computing clusters in France, starting with 3.1GW in Hauts‑de‑France by 2031 and a second 2GW phase, anchored by a Dunkirk facility with Schneider Electric. A full 5GW complex would cost about €75bn and be financed mainly through debt-based project finance, marking the center of Masayoshi Son’s AI infra push alongside OpenAI investments. The plan aims to position France as Europe’s AI infrastructure hub as Macron promotes Choose France, even as Europe lags the US and China in data‑centre development.
SoftBank Group reported a more-than-threefold rise in profit to $12 billion, driven by gains from its stake in OpenAI, underscoring the financial impact of its AI investments.
SoftBank posts Q4 net income of ¥1.8tn ($11.6bn), well ahead of forecasts, helped by a $25bn gain in the value of its OpenAI stake; that pushes full-year profit to about ¥5tn as Vision Funds’ AI investments record large gains, with OpenAI-related profits totaling roughly $45bn to date and total SoftBank exposure to around $64.6bn.
SoftBank reported a $46 billion yearly gain for its Vision Fund, driven mainly by a surge in the value of its OpenAI stake after investing more than $30 billion in the AI lab. In the latest quarter, nearly all gains came from OpenAI while other holdings like Coupang, DiDi Global and Klarna posted losses. The move has drawn attention to debt and concentration risk, with S&P turning negative on SoftBank’s outlook, though the group remains cash-rich and posted overall annual profit aided by the Vision Fund and telecoms. SoftBank has been selling stakes to fund the OpenAI bet and has invested significantly in securing OpenAI’s future growth.
SoftBank shares surged as Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed to a record high on an AI‑fueled tech rally, with Advantest, Tokyo Electron, and Renesas Electronics among the top gainers as investors priced in stronger demand for AI infrastructure and data-center applications.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at a new high, up 2.28% to 57,650.54 as the post-election ‘Takaichi trade’ fuels gains, with Topix at a record; SoftBank jumped after its forecast upgrade, while Korea’s Kospi rose and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s CSI 300 posted gains. Australia’s ASX 200 was flat, and U.S. tech-led gains supported sentiment overseas.
OpenAI and SoftBank are planning to invest $1 billion in a company that supplies energy and data centers, aiming to enhance infrastructure for digital and AI technologies.
OpenAI and SoftBank are investing $1 billion in SB Energy to expand AI data center infrastructure for the Stargate initiative, including building a large data center in Texas and deploying AI tools for SB Energy employees, as part of a broader push to support AI growth through significant energy infrastructure investments.