Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., speaks at the event “SoftBank World” held in Tokyo on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued via conference call that advances in artificial intelligence will lead to new jobs not yet imagined and that advances in robotics will help start a loop of “self-improvement.” Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Softbank Group Founder Masayoshi Son on Monday downplayed the decision to sell the entire conglomerate. Nvidia He said he was “crying” about giving up his shares.
Speaking at a forum in Tokyo on Monday, Son referred to SoftBank’s disclosure in November that it had sold a stake in the US semiconductor giant for $5.83 billion.
Son said SoftBank wouldn’t have made this move if it didn’t need to fund its next round of artificial intelligence investments, including big bets on OpenAI and data center projects.
“I don’t want to sell any shares. I just needed more money to invest in OpenAI and other projects,” Son said at the FII Priorities Asia forum. “I was crying because I wanted to sell my Nvidia shares.”
Son’s comments echo what analysts and other SoftBank executives said in November, describing the sale as part of a broader effort to shore up the SoftBank Vision Fund’s AI war chest.
SoftBank is doubling down on its AI plans this year with a series of projects, including work on the Stargate project’s data centers and the acquisition of American chip design firm Ampere Computing.
The Japanese giant could “potentially” increase its investment in OpenAI, depending on the ChatGPT maker’s performance and evaluation of future rounds, people familiar with the matter previously told CNBC.
Earlier this year, Son said SoftBank was “fully committed” to OpenAI and predicted that the AI startup would one day become the world’s most valuable company.
So far, that bet has paid off to some extent, with SoftBank reporting last month that its second-quarter net profit more than doubled to 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion) due to a valuation gain on its OpenAI holdings.
But SoftBank’s big bet on AI comes amid growing market anxiety and anxiety about a potential AI bubble.
Son echoed those concerns in his Monday speech, arguing that people talking about an AI bubble are “not smart enough.”
He predicted that “hyper(artificial) intelligence” and AI robots would generate at least 10% of global gross domestic product in the long term, outweighing the trillions of dollars invested in the technology.
