Japan's technology conglomerate SoftBank Group Corporation recorded a profit of 421.8 billion yen ($2.9 billion) in the April-June quarter, rebounding from losses from the previous year as investments benefited from the artificial intelligence epidemic.
The company said quarterly sales at Tokyo-based Softbank Group, which invests heavily in AI companies such as NVIDIA and Open AI, rose 7% to ¥1.8 trillion ($12 billion).
SoftBank's losses between April and June 2024 were 174 billion yen.
The company's assets tend to fluctuate as they invest in a variety of ventures through vision funds. This is a risky move.
The son of Masayoshi, the founder of the group, emphasized that he is seeing a vibrant future with AI.
SoftBank is also investing in ARM Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Both companies that produce computer chips are benefiting from the growth of AI.
“The era is definitely AI, and we're focusing on AI,” Yoshimitsugoto, senior SoftBank executive, told reporters. “Investment companies go through their ups and downs, but they've been steadily growing recently.”
Some of Softbank's other investments have also paid off. The example is Coupang, an e-commerce company known as “Korean Amazon” because it began in Seoul. Coupang currently operates in the US and other Asian countries.
GoTo said preparations for PayPay's IPO, a kind of cashless payment system, are on track.
The company already owns an IPO for Chime, the US “Neobank” that provides banking services to Etoro, a low-credit consumer and private investment platform.
