
WASHINGTON: SoftBank Group Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced that the Japanese company will invest 15 trillion yen (100 billion dollars) in the United States over the next four years.
The investment in technology mainly related to artificial intelligence, data centers, and semiconductors will create at least 100,000 jobs.
“My confidence level to the economy of the United States has tremendously increased” with Trump’s victory in November’s election, Son said at a joint press conference with the president-elect after a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Trump called Son “one of the most accomplished business leaders of our time.” Upon being asked by the president-elect to increase the investment to 30 trillion yen (200 billion dollars), Son replied, “He is a great negotiator.”
Son has pushed for an AI revolution in recent years, focusing his company’s investments in related technology. U.S. media last month reported that SoftBank is mulling additional investment in OpenAI, the developer of generative AI tool ChatGPT.
The company had around 3.8 trillion yen in cash as of the end of September, according to financial documents. Some say that SoftBank may raise fresh funds to finance the 100-billion-dollar investment.
Son had announced an investment of 7 billion yen (50 billion dollars) in the United States during Trump’s first term.
JIJI Press