SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son declared he will get off the sidelines and go back on the offensive in tech investing soon, seeking to establish his credentials in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence.
The billionaire is ending years of relative dormancy after his Vision Fund, the world’s largest pool of tech capital, racked up billions of dollars of losses as a COVID-era internet boom withered and a global economic downturn sapped valuations.
The Vision Fund’s return to the field is welcome news for a startup ecosystem whose largest players from Uber Technologies to Coupang scaled up thanks to steady financing from the Japanese firm. SoftBank’s signature portfolio firm is now Arm, the British chip designer Son argues is central to AI. Arm is now on track for one of the largest initial public offerings this year.