SoftBank’s Son seeks US$100 billion for own AI processor venture
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Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group, wants to raise US$100 billion for an AI chip venture codenamed Project Izanagi, according to a Bloomberg report.
The intention is that chip venture created would compete with AI market leader Nvidia while complement Arming Holdings Plc, the processor IP licensor in which SoftBank holds a about 90 percent stake, reports stated.
SoftBank would provide US$30 billion for the project and seek an additional $70 billion from outside sources, Bloomberg said. That could potentially come from Middle Eastern institutions, according to the report. It is a business model SoftBank has previously employed with its VisionFund.
Such a move would parallel a similar one attributed Sam Altman, the CEO of Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI – except in terms of scale. Altman is seeking US$7 trillion dollars for an AI chip manufacturing project, according to a Wall Street Journal report (see OpenAI’s Altman seeks trillions of dollars for chip project).
Although Son and Altman have reportedly discussed collaboration on OpenAI’s chip venture project Bloomberg said that Project Izanagi is a separate endeavour.
Both OpenAI and SoftBank are benefitting from an upsurge in interest in AI and predictions of rapidly increasing AI processor sales in 2024 (see Arm shares jump 50 percent on AI, China boosts to results).
However, both appear to wish to set up in opposition to Nvidia which has a near market monopoly on GPUs for AI in the data center. Nvidia’s dominance has allowed it to triple sales on an annual basis and run a net profit margin at 50 percent of sales revenue (see Nvidia triples Q3 sales, confirms chip leadership).
The project is named after the creater deity in Japanese mythology. SoftBank board member and ARM CEO Rene Haas is advising Son on the project, according to reports.
Graphcore Ltd. a UK AI processor company that could be up for sale, has been broached as a potential target for SoftBank, OpenAI or Arm (see Could SoftBank, OpenAI buy lossmaking Graphcore?)
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OpenAI’s Altman seeks trillions of dollars for chip project
Arm shares jump 50% on AI, China boosts to results
Nvidia triples Q3 sales, confirms chip leadership
Nvidia confirms it is under scrutiny in EU, US and China
Could SoftBank, OpenAI buy lossmaking Graphcore?
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