The billionaire warned that the next big thing could be a huge hit or a huge flop, but SoftBank had no choice but to try.
 "SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son prepares for next big tech bet after leave of absence")
Image: BloombergBloomberg
Min Jung Lee
SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son has declared he is ready to go all-in on the next big tech investment, hinting that the Japanese conglomerate is looking to make a major investment in AI.
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The billionaire warned that SoftBank's next big venture could be a blockbuster or a huge flop, but that the company has no choice but to try — dovetailing with recent comments from SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto that investment firms need to take more risks, especially as AI development accelerates.
“We need to explore our next big move without fear of success or failure,” Son told SoftBank shareholders gathered at the mobile phone operator's annual general meeting. Son added that the company had lost billions of dollars on its WeWork bet. “SoftBank Group's dynamism comes from looking for new seeds of evolution, especially overseas.”
Son, who has humbly shied away from the spotlight after a string of losses in startup investments, has focused on his chipmaker Arm Holdings and artificial intelligence investment strategies. Thursday's comments were among the most definitive he has made so far that he's open to getting back into business.
Son also said SoftBank will expand its renewable power generation business, particularly in the United States, to help supply the electricity demand of generative AI.
Son is going on the offensive again after years of failure with the Vision Fund, a sovereign-backed investment group he set up to invest in startups, which has been steadily selling and writing down assets in its portfolio as Son shifts his focus to AI and semiconductors.
SoftBank has reported second-quarter profits this year and a surge in the value of its assets, including Arm, and had 6.2 trillion yen in cash as of the end of March.
Son is seeking to raise up to $100 billion for a semiconductor venture that will compete with Nvidia Inc. to supply chips crucial to AI, Bloomberg News reported in February.
The company is also in talks to acquire British semiconductor startup Graphcore, according to Bloomberg.
