SoftBank Corp plans to develop generative AI - Nikkei

Investing.com -- Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp (TYO:9984) plans to independently develop its own generative artificial intelligence amid a broader industry push into the upcoming sector, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

SoftBank will also develop a supercomputer to build the model, and plans to provide the model to companies within a few years for application in specialized fields, such as finance and medicine. 

Telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph&Telephone Corp (TYO:9432) is also developing a similar generative AI, the Nikkei report said. 

The report comes just a week after SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said that the firm will aggressively seek investments and opportunities in AI, and was now switching to “offense mode” to ride the AI boom.

Son also said he was a heavy user of OpenAI's ChatGPT, and had recently met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

SoftBank's pivot comes after the tech conglomerate saw two straight years of heavy losses, as rising interest rates and souring sentiment towards tech wiped out the value of its tech investments.

The firm had taken to selling off its most successful investments, chiefly Alibaba Group (HK:9988) (NYSE:BABA), to mitigate losses in its flagship Vision Fund. 

But the firm may benefit from increased interest in AI development, given its exposure to chipmaking through chip designer Arm. AI development is expected to ramp up demand for semiconductors this year, the prospect of which triggered a sharp rally in chipmaking stocks in recent months.

SoftBank is also set to list Arm on the Nasdaq later this year, with the cash injection from the listing expected to further boost the conglomerate’s holdings.

Shares of SoftBank rose as much as 2% after the news, outpacing a 0.1% gain in the Nikkei 225 index.

SoftBank could not be immediately reached for comment on the Nikkei report.