Japan’s SoftBank pledges to invest $100 billion in the United States

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Japan’s SoftBank on Monday unveiled plans to invest $100 billion and create 100,000 jobs in the United States, the latest sign of how companies are rushing to ingratiate themselves with Donald Trump.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s billionaire CEO, stood next to the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago on Monday when the couple officially announced the plans.

“I would really like to celebrate President Trump’s great victory,” Sun said, adding that he was “excited” about the planned investment and also hoped Trump would “bring the world back to peace again.”

Trump described Son as a “brilliant man” and said the planned investment is a “tremendous demonstration of confidence in America’s future.” This will help ensure that the AI, emerging technologies, and other industries of the future are built, created, and grown here in the USA.

The maverick investor, who made a similar move after Trump won the presidential election in 2016, will focus the new investment on creating jobs related to artificial intelligence and infrastructure projects, including those focused on chips and data centers, a person familiar with the matter said. It is unclear how Son, known for his lofty statements, will be able to finance his $100 billion investment pledge.

Son’s announcement comes as US technology groups, led by Amazon and Meta, begin the manufacturing process Large donations To the fund designated for Trump’s inauguration in January – indicating efforts by American companies to curry favor with the incoming president.

Trump said on Monday that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos would be coming to see him this week, and added that he had recently had dinner with Apple’s Tim Cook. “The first semester, everyone was fighting me. In this state, everyone wants to be my friend,” Trump said.

The US President-elect has pledged to stimulate investment in the US through a combination of lower taxes and deregulation – and even promised to speed up regulatory approvals for companies that… Pumping a billion dollars or more into the American economy. Howard Lutnick, his nominee for Commerce Secretary, also attended the event with Sun on Monday.

Investors hope Trump’s plans will boost the world’s largest economy, a bet he prompted Strong flows into US stocks Since last November’s election and sent stocks soaring.

But his threats to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from around the world, his expected crackdown on immigration and his rollback of other manufacturing incentives enacted during Joe Biden’s administration threaten to undermine his pro-growth efforts, analysts say.

Son similarly pledged to pump $50 billion into the US economy and create 50,000 jobs after Trump’s victory in 2016. A person familiar with the plans said the size of the latest investment may be subject to change.

That year, the investor raised $100 billion through the SoftBank Vision Fund, with support from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This money has supported a variety of US technology companies, including Uber and WeWork, but it is unclear exactly how many jobs it created over the four-year period.

He will likely use Son this time Arm chip design companythe crown jewel of SoftBank’s asset portfolio, as a way to create jobs and invest in AI more broadly.