①SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son recently stated that if his company had “unlimited funds” to support the next phase of artificial intelligence investment, he would never have sold NVIDIA’s shares; ②Son explained that SoftBank's sale of its NVIDIA holdings was aimed at raising capital for projects such as building data centers, rather than due to concerns over an AI investment bubble.
Cailian Press reported on December 1 (edited by Zhaohao Zhao) that SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son stated that if his company had “unlimited funds” to support the next phase of artificial intelligence investment — including a significant bet on OpenAI — he would never have sold$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$
This is also his first public response to SoftBank's sudden disclosure in November of “liquidating NVIDIA,” and he criticized the notion of an “artificial intelligence (AI) investment bubble.”
On Monday (December 1), local time, Son explained at a forum in Tokyo that the reason SoftBank sold its NVIDIA holdings was simply to raise funds for projects such as building data centers.
“I didn’t want to sell a single share. I just needed the money more to invest in OpenAI and other projects. When I sold NVIDIA, I cried. (I was crying to sell Nvidia shares)”
SoftBank has been ramping up its bets on AI, including the “Stargate” data center project, the acquisition of U.S. chip design company Ampere Computing LLC, and continued plans to increase investments in OpenAI.
Since last September, SoftBank has been heavily investing in OpenAI. In March this year, SoftBank finalized its first round of investment in OpenAI, valued at $40 billion. In October, it signed an amended agreement with OpenAI to fully commit an additional $22.5 billion in investment.
Last month, SoftBank sold all of its NVIDIA shares, cashing out $5.83 billion. At the time, investor skepticism about large amounts of capital chasing AI technology led to significant declines in the stock prices of companies like NVIDIA and SoftBank.
For those talking about an AI investment bubble, Masayoshi Son believes 'they are not smart enough.' He stated that if AI can create 10% of global GDP in the long term, even with cumulative investments amounting to trillions of dollars, it would be entirely worthwhile. 'How is this a bubble?'
Masayoshi Son’s remarks were made at the Tokyo sub-forum of Saudi Arabia’s major investment summit. It is understood that SoftBank Group's first Vision Fund was established with a $45 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), stated at the event that PIF has invested approximately $11.5 billion in Japan between 2017 and 2024, and this figure is expected to increase to around $27 billion by the end of 2030.
Editor/Liam