SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son speaks at the SoftBank World event in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. In a conference call, Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that the advancement of artificial intelligence would lead to new jobs not yet imagined and that the advancement of robotics will help start a loop of “self-improvement.” Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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SoftBank Group Founder Masayoshi Son on Monday downplayed the decision to sell off the entire conglomerate Nvidia share and said he “cried” about parting with the shares.
At a forum in Tokyo on Monday, Son addressed SoftBank’s disclosure in November that it had sold its shares in the American chip darling for $5.83 billion.
According to Son, SoftBank would not have made this move if it did not need to finance its next investments in artificial intelligence, including a large investment in OpenAI and data center projects.
“I don’t want to sell a single stock. I just needed more money to invest in OpenAI and other projects,” Son said during the FII Priority Asia forum. “I cried selling Nvidia shares.”
Son’s comments are consistent with statements made by analysts and other SoftBank executives in November, in which he described the sale as part of a broader effort to bolster the SoftBank Vision Fund’s AI war chest.
SoftBank has doubled down on its AI plans this year with a range of projects, including work on the Stargate Project data centers and the acquisition of US chip designer Ampere Computing.
The Japanese giant could also “potentially” increase its investment in OpenAI depending on the ChatGPT maker’s performance and evaluation of further rounds, a person familiar with the matter previously told CNBC.
Earlier this year, Son said SoftBank was “all in” on OpenAI and predicted the AI startup would one day become the most valuable company in the world.
So far, that bet has paid off: SoftBank reported last month that its second-quarter net income more than doubled to 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion), driven by valuation gains on its OpenAI holdings.
However, SoftBank’s massive AI bets come amid growing fears and nervousness in markets about a possible AI bubble.
In his talk on Monday, Son also dismissed those concerns, arguing that those who talk about an AI bubble are “not smart enough.”
He predicted that “awesome.” [artificial] “Intelligence” and AI robots will generate at least 10% of global gross domestic product in the long term, which he said would outweigh the trillions of dollars invested in the technology.
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