Masayoshi Son to build $100-bn AI chip venture

SOFTBANK GROUP FOUNDER Masayoshi Son is seeking as much as $100 billion to bankroll a chip venture to compete with Nvidia Corp and supply semiconductors essential for AI, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Code-named Izanagi, the project marks the billionaire's next big endeavour,as SoftBank curtails startup investments. Son envisions creating a company that can complement chip design unit Arm Holdings and allow him to build an AI chip powerhouse, said the people, who requested anonymity because the discussions remain private. In one scenario being considered, SoftBank would provide $30 billion, with $70 billion possibly coming from institutions in the Middle-East, one of the people said.

If he succeeds, the chip project will mark one of the largest investments in the AI arena since the advent of ChatGPT, dwarfing Microsoft's recent bet on OpenAI of more than $10 billion.Son named the project after Izanagi, the Japanese god of creation and life, partly because it includes the initials for artificial general intelligence (AGI), the people said. Son has for years foretold the coming of AGI in his presentations, saying that a world filled with machines that are smarter than humans will be safer, healthier and happier.