Page 3 - Softbank

SoftBank, OpenAI set up joint company to push AI services in Japan

Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group and OpenAI stepped up their AI partnership Monday, setting up a 50-50 held company called SB OpenAI Japan. SoftBank Chief Masayoshi Son and OpenAI Chief Sam Altman appeared at an event in Tokyo, talking up their collaboration and inviting Japanese companies to join. Son, holding a shiny blue crystal ball as a symbolic prop, said its AI service Cristal could be used by companies for planning, marketing, emails and figuring out old source codes. Cristal will first roll out in Son's own SoftBank Group companies, which include Arm, a semiconductor and software company, and PayPay, an electronic payment service. SoftBank said it plans to spend $3 billion a year to integrate Cristal across its companies. This will be super-intelligence for the company. I'm so excited, Son told reporters and other participants at the Transforming Business through AI event. Altman talked about the just announced deep research, which allows ChatGPT to carry out more

OpenAI seeks $40 billion in fresh funding as DeepSeek disrupts AI market

The development follows concerns sparked by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which recently introduced a highly advanced chatbot at a significantly lower cost than its American rivals, unsettling the mark

SoftBank may invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, eyeing top backer role

Stargate is a joint venture by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank, that plans to invest up to $500 billion to help the United States stay ahead of China and other rivals in the global AI race

SoftBank-backed Lenskart said to tap banks for $1 billion IPO: Report

"Lenskart may seek a valuation of about $8 billion in a potential offering"

Microsoft set to benefit from Stargate joint venture with zero investment

Despite investing almost $14 billion in OpenAI and using the startup's AI models for its next-generation cloud services, Microsoft was mentioned only as a technology partner

SoftBank, OpenAI commit $19 bn each to $100 bn US AI venture 'Stargate'

The two companies would then both own 40% of Stargate, the tech outlet said, citing comments by Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman to colleagues

Musk questions proposed $100 bn investment on AI venture, Altman fires back

Altman took to X to dispute Musk's characterisation on Wednesday, calling it wrong and suggesting Musk was upset because the pact could rival the billionaire's own AI efforts

OpenAI announces $500 bn 'The Stargate Project'; here's what we know so far

The Stargate Project will focus on building data centres dedicated exclusively to OpenAI as the company continues to expand its generative AI computing capabilities

Oyo completes US-based G6 Hospitality acquisition for $525 million

The deal is expected to increase Oyo's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) to over Rs 2,000 crore in FY26

Arm CEO downplays ambitions to make its own chip in Qualcomm case

The crux of the litigation is a clash over Qualcomm's license agreement for the use of Arm's intellectual property following Qualcomm's $1.4 billion acquisition of chip startup Nuvia in 2021

SoftBank CEO announces $100 bn US investment in meeting with Trump

Son will also promise in a joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and related infrastructure

Paytm hits 52-week high after Singapore arm to sell stake in Japan's PayPay

Paytm currently has a cash balance of over Rs 10,000 crore. The Rs 2,364 crore sale would expand it by over 20 per cent

SoftBank plans to buy $1.5 billion worth OpenAI shares from employees

SoftBank contributed $500 million to OpenAI's $6.6 billion fundraising round in October, but had pushed for a larger allocation at the time

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son likely to meet PM Modi on Wednesday

While the matter of discussion was not immediately clear, the visit comes as SoftBank eyes more artificial intelligence and technology bets in Asia's third-largest economy

Rajeev Misra's OneIM upsizes to $8 billion to enhance investments

OneIM is backed by Abu Dhabi conglomerate Royal Group and Mubadala Investment Co., one of the emirate's sovereign wealth funds

SoftBank returns to quarterly profit with $7.7 bn gain, beats expectations

But while Vision Fund 1 has had a gross gain of $22.6 billion since inception this has been largely offset by Vision Fund 2's $21 billion loss

Ola Electric expands service by 30%; adds over 50 centres, 500 technicians

India's biggest e-scooter maker Ola Electric has ramped up capacity at its service centres across the country by over 30 per cent to transform its service and elevate the after-sales experience of customers, sources said. The Softbank Group-backed firm, which commands nearly a third of the market share in India's e-scooter market, has added more than 50 service centres and has hired over 500 service technicians across new and existing service centres to streamline operations and clear all backlogs. The company reportedly has also onboarded Ernst & Young for service transformation, strategy, and optimisation of overall service processes. The development comes in the backdrop of some centres reporting backlogs as demand outstripped their workforce. A senior company executive, who requested not to be named, said, "The company has added over 50 centres to its service network and has onboarded more than 500 service technicians across new and existing centres across the country". "The .

Arm Holdings to cancel licence agreement allowing Qualcomm to design chips

An Arm victory in the litigation could force Qualcomm and its roughly 20 partners, including Microsoft, to halt shipments of the new laptops

Japan's SoftBank to invest $500 mn in OpenAI's latest funding: Report

Apple reportedly dropped out of plans to participate in the large funding round, which currently values the artificial intelligence startup at $150 billion before the SoftBank investment

Meesho sees 65 mn unique visitors on Day 1 of festive sale; orders double

SoftBank-backed e-commerce platform Meesho on Saturday said it recorded about 6.5 crore unique visitors on its portal on Day 1 of the annual festive season 'Meesho Mega Blockbuster Sale'. Meesho Founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey said the company's app downloads reached around 1.5 crore ahead of the sale and the number of purchase orders has doubled on the first day of the sale on Friday as compared to that of the previous season. "By just 2 PM yesterday, we had already surpassed our previous best of highest orders placed on Day 1 previous year, and by the end of the day, that number had more than doubled. Around 6.5 crore unique customers visited the mobile app on Day 1," Aatrey said on a social media platform. According to a report by research firm Statista, the number of online shoppers was estimated to be about 25 crore across India in 2023 and it is likely to increase to 42.5 crore in 2027. Meesho claimed that the orders on Day 1 doubled compared to last year while it tripled compar