SoftBank Group’s CEO, Masayoshi Son, announced on Monday that a collaborative agreement has been reached with OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, to establish a joint venture in Japan catering to corporate clients seeking artificial intelligence services.
Under this partnership, SoftBank is earmarked to spend a significant $3 billion annually to leverage OpenAI’s advanced technologies across its various subsidiaries. The ownership of the joint venture will be shared between OpenAI and a newly constituted entity under the Japanese investment giant and its telecom division.
According to a recent Reuters report, SoftBank eyes a substantial investment of $15 billion to $25 billion in the venture. Additionally, the company is allocating $15 billion towards Stargate, a collaborative effort with OpenAI and Oracle to enhance AI capabilities in the United States.
The support for OpenAI indicates Son’s return as a dominant force in investments following a period of scaling back triggered by the devaluation of SoftBank’s tech assets and a string of significant setbacks.
