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SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is looking for investors to help him with a $100 billion plan to boost the global supply of AI-focused processors in a bid to compete better with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Bloomberg reported.
THE The project, codenamed Izanagi after the Japanese god of creation and life, could see SoftBank invest $30 billion of its own money and the remaining $70 billion from external partners, including those in the Middle East in one scenario, according to the news bulletin addedciting people familiar with the matter.
The news comes as Nvidia, which is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on Feb. 21, continues to dominate the AI accelerator market. According to IOT Analytics, as of December 2023 Nvidia held 92% of the data center GPU market, while others such as AMD (AMD) and Intel (INTC) account for the remaining 8%.
At arm’s length
SoftBank’s son is eyeing the project as one that could integrate Arm Holdings (NASDAQ: ARM), its majority-owned British chip design unit, which it partially sold to investors last year, the sources said. Arm CEO Rene Haas, who is also a SoftBank board member, is said to be advising Son on the project.
SoftBank, Arm and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha’s request for comment.
Over the past month, Arm shares have had increased by 95% on the back of better-than-expected earnings and guidance, benefiting SoftBank and its balance sheet.
Arm was downgraded by investment firm Daiwa Securities on Friday following the stock’s recent surge. Arm odds fell by 5% while Nvidia increased by 1.9% in late afternoon trading.
The son’s big bets
Son’s Project Izanagi efforts to create a rival to Nvidia are said to be separate from his plans to work with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to raise between $5 and $7 trillion to increase chip manufacturing capacity world and its ability to power artificial intelligence.
Son is known for making extraordinary bets and calls, including SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, which became the largest tech venture capital fund ever. In 2022, he lost a record $23.4 billion on failed bets across several of his investments, including WeWork (OTC: WEWKQ). (In the most recent quarter, the Vision Fund generated $4 billion in earnings, amid a sharp rebound in tech stock valuations in recent months.)
“It is wrong to say that AI cannot be smarter than humans because it was created by humans,” Son said at the company’s global conference in October, adding that he believed that general AI, sometimes called artificial general intelligence, it would top the list. collective intelligence of humanity and will happen within the next 10 years.
“AI now self-learns, trains and self-infers, just like humans.”