SoftBank Group sprang back to a quarterly profit after investment gains from OpenAI neared $20 billion, a promising start for one of CEO Masayoshi Son¡¯s signature gambles alongside ByteDance and Alibaba Group Holding.
The Tokyo-based company has invested about $34.6 billion in OpenAI, accumulating an 11% stake as of December, and has been in talks to invest as much as $30 billion more in a round that would value the startup at about $750 billion to $830 billion. As of December, SoftBank¡¯s investment gain on OpenAI stood at $19.8 billion, the company said Thursday.
SoftBank¡¯s bet in OpenAI is based on its visibility into the startup¡¯s technology and business model, as well as communication with top management, SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said.
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