Recently, Masayoshi Son, the founder of Japan's Softbank Group, launched a major investment plan in the United States, promising to invest US$100 billion in the next four years to vigorously promote the development of artificial intelligence chips. The ultimate goal is to create the next "NVIDIA" and reshape Global AI industry map.
SoftBank’s $100 billion commitment
Last week, Masayoshi Son and former US President Trump appeared at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and announced that SoftBank would invest US$100 billion in the United States over the next four years. Trump joked on the spot that SoftBank might be able to raise this goal to US$200 billion, and Son also responded humorously: "I will work hard."
In addition to the monetary commitment, Son also said that this investment will be deployed during Trump's term and is expected to create 100,000 jobs focusing on artificial intelligence and infrastructure, injecting new momentum into the U.S. economy.
Targeting the AI chip market
According to people familiar with the matter, Son has shown high interest in the artificial intelligence hardware industry in recent months, especially in the chip field. His ultimate goal is to use self-developed chips to create the next giant to dominate the market like Huida and get a share of the tens of billions of dollars in global demand for AI hardware.
Sources pointed out that SoftBank’s plan covers multi-faceted investments from chip design to energy infrastructure to support the operation of future AI systems. Son hopes to launch the first batch of commercially capable artificial intelligence chips by 2026, and even plans to release prototype products next summer.
To this end, he plans to rely on SoftBank’s 90% stake in ARM to build this semiconductor design company into a core research and development platform for AI chips.
