SoftBank's Son Seeks To Build a $100 Billion AI Chip Venture

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: SoftBank Group Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son is looking to raise up to $100 billion for a chip venture that will rival Nvidia, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The project, code named Izanagi, will supply semiconductors essential for artificial intelligence (AI), the report added. The company would inject $30 billion in the project, with an additional $70 billion potentially coming from Middle Eastern institutions, according to the report.

The Japanese group already holds about a 90% stake in British chip designer Arm, per LSEG. SoftBank is known for its tech investments with high conviction bets on startups at an unheard of scale. But it had adopted a defensive strategy after being hit by plummeting valuations in the aftermath of the pandemic, when higher interest rates eroded investor appetite for risk. It returned to profit for the first time in five quarters earlier this month, as the Japanese tech investment firm was buoyed by an upturn in portfolio companies.

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