The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is seeking investment opportunities in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Following the booming stock market debut of its subsidiary Arm, a British chip manufacturer, Masayoshi Son's company is exploring the possibility of investing in OpenAI. The creator of the popular ChatGPT is an attractive target for tech firms looking to join the rapidly growing trend of AI-based solutions.

SoftBank Sets Its Sights on OpenAI

According to a weekend report by the Financial Times (FT), at least two people familiar with the matter confirmed that Son, the Founder and driving force behind SoftBank, wants to invest tens of billions of dollars in the AI industry.

OpenAI, which has already received significant support from Microsoft, is one of the options being considered by the Asian conglomerate. However, when asked for a commentary, a SoftBank spokesperson told FT that the company does not comment on rumors.

Son describes himself as a 'heavy user' of OpenAI's chat service and has established a close relationship with Sam Altman, the company's CEO. According to Son, Altman is currently 'one of the most important people on the planet', with whom he allegedly speaks every day.

SoftBank has already begun collaborating with OpenAI in the Japanese market, allowing local companies to develop intelligent chatbots. If things do not work out with ChatGPT, the company is considering alternative deals. One such option would be the acquisition of Graphcore, a British AI chip maker. Alongside Arm, this would be another UK-based chip manufacturer to join SoftBank's portfolio.

SoftBank's AI Chip Maker Makes Stock Market Debut

Last Thursday, shares of Arm Holdings, a SoftBank subsidiary that produces AI chips, went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange, rising 25% on the first day of trading to $51. The company was valued at $60 billion and sold 95.5 million shares under the symbol ARM.

Arm's technology powers nearly every chip in today's smartphones, but the company plans to shift its focus increasingly towards artificial intelligence. The long-awaited debut on the American stock exchange was the largest Wall Street has seen in 2023.

It is worth noting that Nvidia, one of the world's largest chip manufacturers, was also interested in Arm for a while. Talks about the sale of the subsidiary by SoftBank had been ongoing since 2021, but in early 2022, the companies announced the suspension of the acquisition. The reasons cited were 'regulatory challenges' and a change in strategy by Son's company, which decided to take it public instead. This was successfully accomplished a year and a half later.