Photo Credit: REUTERS/Issei Kato
SoftBank Group reported a fiscal third-quarter net profit of 248.6 billion yen (US$1.6 billion), buoyed by a sharp increase in the value of its stake in ChatGPT creator OpenAI. The result marks a turnaround from a loss in the same period a year earlier, even as the company fell short of analyst expectations. A 2.4 billion US dollar gain at its Vision Fund during the December quarter was driven largely by a 4.2 billion US dollar uplift tied to OpenAI, helping offset declines in other portfolio companies.
SoftBank said weaker share prices at e-commerce firm Coupang and Chinese ride-hailing group Didi weighed on performance, while its investment in ByteDance was marked down. Despite those pressures, gains linked to artificial intelligence investments supported overall profitability.
Founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son has positioned SoftBank at the centre of the AI race, arguing that artificial superintelligence could emerge within a decade. Chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto said about 60 per cent of the group’s assets are now aligned with what it calls “ASI-oriented investments.”
SoftBank has invested more than US$30 billion in OpenAI and holds roughly an 11 per cent stake. Between April and December, the group recorded an estimated US$17 billion gain on that investment, underscoring the surge in the start-up’s valuation.
OpenAI remains unprofitable and faces intensifying competition from rivals including Google and Anthropic, whose Claude models have gained business traction. Still, investor attention has focused on how SoftBank will continue financing its aggressive AI push.
To fund further bets, the company has sold assets including its entire US$5.83 billion stake in Nvidia and US$12.73 billion worth of T-Mobile shares. It has also increased borrowing against holdings such as chip designer Arm.
SoftBank recently created a new “AI Computing” reporting segment covering Arm and semiconductor firms Graphcore and Ampere. The unit posted a loss in the nine months to December, reflecting higher staffing and acquisition costs, as SoftBank deepens its long-term wager on AI infrastructure
SoftBank said weaker share prices at e-commerce firm Coupang and Chinese ride-hailing group Didi weighed on performance, while its investment in ByteDance was marked down. Despite those pressures, gains linked to artificial intelligence investments supported overall profitability.
Founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son has positioned SoftBank at the centre of the AI race, arguing that artificial superintelligence could emerge within a decade. Chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto said about 60 per cent of the group’s assets are now aligned with what it calls “ASI-oriented investments.”
SoftBank has invested more than US$30 billion in OpenAI and holds roughly an 11 per cent stake. Between April and December, the group recorded an estimated US$17 billion gain on that investment, underscoring the surge in the start-up’s valuation.
OpenAI remains unprofitable and faces intensifying competition from rivals including Google and Anthropic, whose Claude models have gained business traction. Still, investor attention has focused on how SoftBank will continue financing its aggressive AI push.
To fund further bets, the company has sold assets including its entire US$5.83 billion stake in Nvidia and US$12.73 billion worth of T-Mobile shares. It has also increased borrowing against holdings such as chip designer Arm.
SoftBank recently created a new “AI Computing” reporting segment covering Arm and semiconductor firms Graphcore and Ampere. The unit posted a loss in the nine months to December, reflecting higher staffing and acquisition costs, as SoftBank deepens its long-term wager on AI infrastructure
