Reportedly, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is aiming to secure $100 billion to establish a new venture focused on AI chip development
SoftBank Group’s Masayoshi Son has been vocal about his intention to further invest in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence industry. Now, he’s gearing up for his next strategic move by fundraising for a new venture. According to Bloomberg, Son is aiming to raise a substantial $100 billion to establish a venture aimed at competing with industry giants like Nvidia in the realm of AI chip development.
Dubbed Izanagi, the new venture is set to collaborate with Arm, the chip design company previously spun out by SoftBank as a public entity last year. SoftBank still retains approximately 90% ownership of Arm’s stock as of the current month.
Taking a page from its playbook with the Vision Fund investments, SoftBank plans to secure about $70 billion from institutional investors in the Middle East, with the remaining $30 billion coming from SoftBank itself.
When reached out to for comment, a SoftBank spokesperson declined to provide a response to the report.
Nvidia currently holds a dominant position in the AI chip market with its GPU chips. However, given the projected growth in demand for AI processors and the ongoing efforts to enhance efficiency and reduce costs, there’s significant potential for competitors to emerge with alternative solutions, whether they involve similar GPU architectures, novel GPU approaches, or entirely different processing methods altogether.
Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Sam Altman is reportedly in discussions with investors in the United Arab Emirates to raise an astonishing $5 trillion to $7 trillion for a separate AI chip project. Notably, OpenAI has been at the forefront of generative AI development, leveraging its GPT models to power various services including ChatGPT.
Given OpenAI’s significant demand for these chips, they constitute one of the company’s largest expenses. Altman has reportedly engaged with various potential investors, chip industry experts, and stakeholders worldwide, including Masayoshi Son, for the new AI chip initiative. The Izanagi project appears distinct from Altman’s AI chip ambitions, according to the Bloomberg report.
Specific details regarding SoftBank’s new project remain undisclosed, including the companies involved in developing the core technology and the project’s timelines.
