SoftBank Group will cut around 20% of its Vision Fund staff globally as it shifts focus to large-scale AI investments in the US, according to a memo seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the plan.

The Vision Fund, with over 300 employees, is moving away from broad startup investments to concentrate on founder Masayoshi Son’s AI projects, including a proposed US$500 billion Stargate data center network with OpenAI.

This marks the third round of layoffs since 2022, but follows the fund’s strongest quarterly performance since June 2021, driven by gains from Nvidia and Coupang.

Vision Fund 2 has invested US$9.7 billion in OpenAI over the past year and plans further investments in chip and infrastructure firms to build an AI ecosystem, despite delays in the Stargate project in the US and a similar venture in Japan.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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