“It is still not in the final stages of a deal, and
there may still be problems, but it was a big step
forward,” SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi
Son told reporters.
SoftBank also has stakes in Arm of Britain and
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group,
and its subsidiary owns Yahoo Japan. It has
developed the talking companion robot Pepper,
was the first to offer the iPhone in Japan and is a
leader in the solar energy business.
The company has recently announced a second
$108 billion investment fund called Vision Fund
2, with SoftBank earmarking nearly 4 trillion
yen ($38 billion).
Other investors have signed on, including Apple,
FoxConn Technology Group, Microsoft Corp. and
Japanese banks and other companies. Son said
the total investment may grow because talks
were ongoing with other investors.
The first Vision Fund, now totaling $97 billion,
came under scrutiny after the killing of Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Much of the funding
for that investment entity came from Saudi Arabia.
SoftBank promised to diversify its funding sources.
Vision Fund 2 does not include any Saudi money.
Son said the investment focus was on what
are called “unicorns,” which are defined as
technology startups with at least $1 billion
market value. But he has decided to target
innovators in artificial intelligence.
“We invest in one thing — AI,” he said.
Recently, SoftBank and Southeast Asian ride-
hailing app Grab said they were investing $2
billion in Indonesia over the next five years.
SoftBank does not give earnings forecasts.