Investing.com– SoftBank Group Corp (TYO:9984) shares rose sharply in early trading on Wednesday, after the company announced its participation in a major artificial intelligence (AI) partnership with OpenAI and other technology giants.
The partnership, part of a $500 billion initiative dubbed “Stargate,” aims to develop advanced AI infrastructure and energy facilities in the United States over the next four years, the company said.
SoftBank shares climbed 7.5% to JPY 9,941.0 on Wednesday.
The initiative includes prominent players such as Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), alongside OpenAI.
It will focus on building extensive data centers and renewable energy projects in Texas, supporting the growing computational needs of cutting-edge AI models. OpenAI, known for its revolutionary chatbot GPT-4, is expected to leverage the new infrastructure to scale its operations globally. OpenAI said in a statement.
SoftBank, which manages the $100 billion Vision Fund, has consistently sought to position itself at the forefront of transformative technologies. Analysts see this partnership as a critical opportunity for SoftBank to strengthen its AI portfolio, following challenges faced in other sectors
Softbank (OTC:SFTBY) CEO Masayoshi Son will be the chairman of the new company formed under the partnership.
