SoftBank seeks up to $100 billion from Gulf investors for AI push, FT reports

Business Recorder, relaying a Financial Times report, said SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son is looking to raise as much as $100 billion from investors in the Gulf to finance a fresh wave of AI spending. According to the FT, Son has spent recent weeks holding talks with senior figures, among them some in the United Arab Emirates, about the possible raise. Reuters has not been able to confirm the report yet, and SoftBank had not replied when approached for comment.

Per the FT, the Japanese conglomerate intends to channel the proceeds into a fresh fund that would buy businesses and sharpen their performance with AI and related cutting-edge tech. This push follows Son's expanding AI commitments, and last week SoftBank announced that it had finished putting $30 billion into OpenAI, honouring its pledge to the ChatGPT developer's latest funding round. Last month, SoftBank also raised $11.1 billion through a high-yield bond offering that ranks as the biggest of its type globally, money meant to finance its OpenAI wager.