SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son talked low-key on Monday about his decision to sell all of the group's Nvidia shares, saying he was "deeply sad" to sell the shares. At a forum in Tokyo on Monday, Son discussed SoftBank's disclosure in November that the company sold its stake in U.S. chip darling Nvidia for $5.83 billion.
Masayoshi Son said that SoftBank would not have taken this action if it did not need to fund its next round of artificial intelligence investment, including large-scale investments in OpenAI and data center projects.
"I don't want to sell any shares. It's just that I need more funds to invest in OpenAI and other projects," Sun Zhengyi said at the "Future Investment Initiative Asia First Summit". "When I sold Nvidia shares, I was so sad that I shed tears."
Son's comments were consistent with what analysts and other SoftBank executives said in November, who said the sale was part of a broader effort to bolster the SoftBank Vision Fund's artificial intelligence reserves.
SoftBank has doubled down on its artificial intelligence plans this year with a series of projects, including participation in the Stargate data center and its acquisition of U.S. chip design company Ampere Computing.
An insider previously told the media that the Japanese giant may also increase its investment in OpenAI "as appropriate," depending on the performance of the ChatGPT maker and the valuation of subsequent financing rounds.
Earlier this year, Masayoshi Son said SoftBank was “all in” on OpenAI and predicted that the AI startup would one day become the most valuable company in the world. The bet has paid off somewhat so far, with SoftBank reporting last month that its second-quarter net profit more than doubled to 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion) as the valuation of its OpenAI stake grew.
However, SoftBank's massive bet on artificial intelligence comes amid growing concerns and unease about a potential artificial intelligence bubble.
In his speech on Monday, Son also dismissed those concerns, arguing that those talking about an AI bubble are "not smart enough."
He predicted that "super artificial intelligence" and AI robots will contribute at least 10% of global gross domestic product in the long term, which will exceed trillions of dollars in technology investment.