Masayoshi Son wants to create an AI and robotics company to build AI data centers.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
The Japanese telecom and investment firm is one of the biggest investors in AI and tech. It partnered with OpenAI and Oracle in early 2025 to invest $500 billion in the Stargate project , although it has since faced issues, and OpenAI has reportedly abandoned first-party data centers in favor of leasing compute. It’s also building a 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio, powered by a $33 billion natural gas plant funded by the Japanese government.
Aside from its AI investments, the company also poured $2 billion into Intel more than a year after the chipmaker announced disastrous results. While this isn’t a huge amount in the context of semiconductor fabs, it’s a vote of confidence in the direction that the company is taking and a crucial injection of funds at a time when Intel was struggling to right the ship.
You may like SoftBank’s $4.2bn OpenAI gain lifts quarterly profits as AI exposure deepens Stargate AI data centers for OpenAI reportedly delayed by squabbles between partners Planned 10-gigawatt Softbank data center in Ohio might be the largest in the world Son is known for taking huge risks on tech investments. For example, SoftBank acquired ARM Holdings in 2016 for $32 billion and still holds around 90% of the company despite listing it in 2023. Its current market cap is around $223 billion, meaning SoftBank made a windfall with this investment. In fact, the company used Arm shares as collateral for a $5 billion loan to invest in OpenAI . It also invested $20 million in Alibaba in the year 2000 and only exited the position in 2024, giving the company $8.5 billion — about 425 times its initial investment.
However, not all its bets were winners. Some of its large losses came from investments in WeWork and various tech startups, especially during the early years of its Vision Fund. In fact, the company lost 93% of its market value during the dotcom crash and was at risk of going bankrupt during that time. Despite that, the company is still going big on AI today, even though there were some concerns that it was turning into a bubble.
SoftBank’s massive investment in AI means that it’s prone to fluctuations in the fast-evolving industry. It showed a $50 billion loss in late 2025 when investors started asking about the profitability of the billions of dollars poured into AI infrastructure. Although the company has rebounded since then, it’s facing another challenge after news leaked that OpenAI missed internal targets for both revenue and active users.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News , or add us as a preferred source , to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/softbank-plans-robotics-and-ai-firm-in-the-us-to-build-data-centers-aims-for-usd100-billion-valuation-and-an-ipo-this-year#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Keychain-size ‘GameCube’ uses genuine Nintendo silicon — system also includes a dock, design shared to GitHub
- Slimline Commodore 64C Ultimate Edition computers go up for pre-order — firm reintroduces the C64’s sleeker 1986-1994 styling across the range
- 45 years later, earliest DOS source code transcribed from a stack of old printouts found in a garage — code was open-sourced to mark 86-DOS 1.00’s anniversary
- Grab a 1440p-capable gaming rig with an RTX 5060 for just $1,049 — Save up to 25% on ABS Flux & Cyclone prebuilts that also feature 32 GB of RAM
- FCC votes to ban all Chinese labs from certifying electronics sold in the US due to national security concerns — ruling would affect 75 percent of US-bound devi
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.