SoftBank’s $100 billion AI chip bet

Hello, this is MJ in Tokyo. Japan’s most ambitious tech investor is once again mobilizing mountains of cash to help speed us into the future [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hello, this is MJ in Tokyo. Japan’s most ambitious tech investor is once again mobilizing mountains of cash to help speed us into the future. But first... Three things you need to know today: - China is taking a more [hands-on approach in the tech race]( - Anthropic’s chatbot will avoid answering [election questions]( - Nintendo told partners to expect [Switch successor delay]( Entrepreneur at heart When [Masayoshi Son](bbg://people/profile/1455295) excused himself from SoftBank Group Corp.’s earnings presentations, he left a void of whimsy and humor, depriving us of his quirky slides featuring everything from golden geese and eggs to solemn Japanese samurai. I almost drove myself crazy trying to find out what Son was doing behind the scenes after he dropped that [curious line]( about how he wants to focus solely on Arm Holdings Plc. This was before the UK chip architect’s listing last year, but today that focus remains, and we finally have some sense of Son’s strategic shift. The SoftBank founder is now pursuing a [$100 billion venture]( to create a company or a cohort of companies that can go up against Nvidia Corp. in the race to build artificial intelligence chips. This is not a fund. It’s more a business strategy than an investment strategy, even if decoupling the two is a bit of a nebulous task. The point is, Son’s ambition to drive us toward the future of AI isn’t satisfied by the institutional fund model that SoftBank operated with his earlier $100 billion-plus venture, the Vision Fund. Seven years into that project, Son is showing signs of disengagement, spending less time with Vision Fund staff and more talking to the likes of OpenAI chief Sam Altman. The semiconductor project is also a sort of return to Son’s roots. His early bet on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and acquisition of Vodafone's Japan operations to corner the iPhone market here are the two key steps that built the SoftBank of today. If Son’s a peculiar mix of investor and entrepreneur, his passions often seem to lay closer to the latter. The “throw money at the wall and see what sticks” strategy of fund management hasn’t worked out for him. Speaking of money, that probably won’t be an issue in this case. SoftBank has been saving up to cover a substantial chunk of the cost, and the roughly $70 billion remaining may come from Middle East investors eager to enter the AI tech race. Even without a sizable outside check, SoftBank has a new stash of T-Mobile US Inc. shares worth $8 billion, which together with Arm’s stock — which has been on a tear this month — can be used as collateral for financing. Investors cheered the move. SoftBank Group shares added 2.8% on Monday, the first day after the initial AI chip report, extending a major surge triggered by Arm’s rise. Despite all the failed investments like WeWork and Zume, the market is once again showing confidence in Son’s salesmanship and ability to raise billions and billions of dollars. "While it seems to be quite early days and not yet official, one thing appears clear to us: Son-san is thinking big for his next move," Macquarie analyst Paul Golding said in a note. This may be a good time for Son and his fancy slides to return to SoftBank presentations. I, at least, am counting the days until he’s back.—[Min Jeong Lee](mailto:mlee754@bloomberg.net) The big story OpenAI’s Sam Altman is seeking approval from the US government to raise billions to increase the global [manufacturing of AI chips](. According to people familiar with the matter, this venture could risk raising national security and antitrust concerns in Washington. One to watch Super Micro CEO Charles Liang joins Ed Ludlow and Caroline Hyde to discuss why he believes the company can gain more market share Get fully charged Super Micro’s CEO is eyeing $25 billion in sales, but the lack of availability of semiconductors [is holding it back](. Nvidia’s disclosure of its stakes in different companies, including Nano-X, caused the [shares of these to rally](. Indian regulators extended Paytm Bank’s lifeline to help customers, and it now has until [March 15 to stop accepting new deposits](. 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