Author: Tristan Greene, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
On December 16, the CEO of Japan's investment holding company SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son, announced that his company will invest at least $100 billion in the United States for the construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
This announcement was made at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. According to Trump, this partnership will create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence.
During the announcement, Masayoshi Son and Trump joked with each other, suggesting that the elected president was trying to double the initial amount. Son humorously referred to Trump as the 'great negotiator' and promised to 'work hard to achieve this goal.'
Trump 2.0
Elected President Trump and Masayoshi Son have a long-standing relationship, and during Trump's first administration, the two signed a similar partnership in 2016.
At that time, SoftBank Group pledged to provide $50 billion for infrastructure development in the United States and promised to create 50,000 new jobs. It is unclear whether any jobs have been created, but a CNBC report indicated that the funds were paid in 2020.
Meanwhile, under Trump’s second administration, the restrictions on foreign trade and investment markets that SoftBank faces in the U.S. may be much less than they were a few years ago. Trump vowed to cut and/or consolidate banking regulators and promised to expedite any investment exceeding $1 trillion, incorporating environmental impact regulations.
SoftBank's AI ambitions
Son's collaboration with Trump comes at a time of revival for the company. From 2000 to 2002, during the burst of the internet bubble, the company's market value lost 99%, but it has now risen again.
Analysts largely attribute this recovery to the company's strategic investments in artificial intelligence, including the $1.5 billion acquisition of ChatGPT maker OpenAI in November 2024.
Despite a series of failures associated with the 'Vision' investment division, including the shutdown of WeWork, which resulted in a loss of over $14 billion for the company, recent growth has emerged.
As of the end of 2024, SoftBank has about $175 billion in assets and equivalents, but it is currently unclear how much of that is available for immediate investment. According to Trump and Son, SoftBank Group will pay the full $100 billion by the end of 2028.