SoftBank announced a US$2 billion equity investment in Intel, increasing its exposure to AI and the semiconductor sector.

The Tokyo-based tech investor has made several major moves, including leading a US$40 billion funding round for OpenAI, with a US$22.5 billion portion that SoftBank has until the end of 2025 to fund.

SoftBank is also leading financing for Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI and Oracle, which aims to build US$500 billion in data centers over four years, though the project has faced delays.

In March, SoftBank agreed to acquire US chip designer Ampere Computing for US$6.5 billion and purchased British AI chipmaker Graphcore in 2024.

SoftBank remains the majority owner of Arm Holdings, which went public in 2023 with a US$54.5 billion valuation.

As of June, SoftBank held Nvidia shares valued at about US$4.8 billion, after previously selling its entire stake in 2019.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ SoftBank is placing unprecedented coordinated bets across the entire AI chip ecosystem

SoftBank’s recent moves reveal a systematic strategy to control multiple layers of the AI semiconductor value chain rather than making isolated investments.

The company committed $22.5 billion to OpenAI’s $40 billion funding round while simultaneously investing $2 billion in Intel and leading the $500 billion Stargate data center project 1. This creates a vertically integrated play where SoftBank finances the AI software (OpenAI), the infrastructure to run it (Stargate), and key hardware components (Intel chips).

The strategy extends to chip design through SoftBank’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Ampere Computing and its majority ownership of ARM Holdings, valued at $54.5 billion 1. Ampere makes data center processors using ARM’s architecture, which positions SoftBank to benefit from both the intellectual property licensing fees and the actual chip sales in AI applications.

This coordinated approach differs from typical venture capital strategies that spread risk across unrelated bets, instead creating potential synergies where success in one investment amplifies returns in others.

2️⃣ ARM’s licensing model positions SoftBank to capture outsized returns from the AI boom

SoftBank’s ownership of ARM Holdings gives it exposure to virtually every AI chip sold, regardless of which company manufactures them.

ARM’s designs have already been deployed in over 120 billion chips, with the company shipping 21 billion ARM-based chips in fiscal 2017 alone 2. The licensing model generates royalties each time a chip using ARM’s intellectual property is sold, creating recurring revenue streams that grow with market expansion.

Recent SoftBank developments