In 2024, SoftBank added AI chip design company Graphcore to its portfolio and continues to invest in major AI players such as OpenAI and Nvidia.
AI-driven growth in the data center
The proliferation of AI and machine learning workloads is driving an unprecedented boom in data center investment worldwide. Hyperscalers such as AWS, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to scale their infrastructure to meet skyrocketing computing demands.
In a landmark deal, Oracle signed a $300 billion deal in September to support OpenAI's cloud computing requirements, making it the largest cloud contract in history.
According to UBS, global AI spending is expected to reach $375 billion in 2025, increase to $500 billion in 2026, and exceed $3 trillion by 2030. This spending includes AI data centers, power generation, and resource allocation, areas where SoftBank aims to capture significant market share.
DigitalBridge brings to SoftBank expertise in managing and scaling digital infrastructure assets such as data centers and fiber networks, which are critical components of AI-driven computing. By integrating DigitalBridge's capabilities, SoftBank says it will be able to accelerate its infrastructure build-out and remain at the forefront of the AI revolution.
