Massayoshi, CEO of AI and Trump 2.0 Softbank

The first days of the recent Trump administration offered the newly -elected president an opportunity to share the spotlight with some of his most important allies. While some distinguished leaders were expected – Cabinet, Congress leaders, and Megadonor El Musk – at least was a surprise: Masayoshi Son, Japanese billionaire technology investor.

The occasion of the son’s star in the Roosevelt Chamber on January 21 was an announcement that the Softbank collection, the Son’s Tokyo collection, was provided most of the funding for the sake StargateAn ambitious partnership with Openai and Oracle aimed at overcoming the American leadership in artificial intelligence. Surrounded by Oracle’s Chairman Larry Ellson and CEO of Openai Sam Altman, and standing on a box to be seen over The Lectern, Son Trump promised that Stargate will invest $ 500 billion to build a network at the country level of data centers, power stations, and research centers. Trump praised “My friend Masa” to finance “the largest infrastructure of Amnesty International.”

“This is the beginning of the golden age of America,” said Ibn Trump. “We will not decide (for investment) unless you win.”

It is also a golden age of gambling on artificial intelligence, and the son appears to be designed to be the highest cylinder on the table. Softbank leads a $ 40 billion financing round for Openai, and its evaluation of $ 300 billion, while it could be a single record for a private company. If this is completed, this investment will put Softbank as one of the largest contributors to Openai. At the same time, SoftBank and Openai release A joint project to develop and market artificial intelligence in Japan.

(On March 31, after the publication of this story originally, Softbank said I agreed to the leadership A financing round of $ 40 billion in Openai Global, a subsidiary for the chartgpt maker, which resides the company for $ 300 billion, while it could be a single record for a private company. Softbank plans to invest up to $ 30 billion in the subsidiary company, with a group of participating investors who provide the remaining $ 10 billion.)

The increase is more striking because the son in some circles is known in the best way for his failures. In fact, the last time the son was looming on the horizon in the global headlines was in 2022, when the vision fund recorded a loss of $ 27 billion and tension on the brink of collapse. Among them Most Debacles is amazingThe start of the offices, the fund has been forced to write down $ 14 billion.

But the return is the old son. Over the years, he made greater fortunes and lost greater than any investor in the history of capitalism. From his early days as a software distributor, he showed Son A tendency for major gesturesIman is not shaken by the young Carisimid founders who have great ideas – and the ability to retreat from failed bets. Not far from comparing it with DarumaA traditional Japanese doll is a symbol of perseverance. Daruma Dolls have heavy and likely rules. Like Weeples America, they are oscillating but they do not fall.

The street pattern has been repeated throughout his career, the son-and it seems that each cycle of a boom and a decline has left its financial base more solid. The first great success for Softbank was a bet on Yahoo, my darling from Dotcom Boom, which strengthened the son’s reputation as preserved in the vision and made it shortly, The richest man in the world. Yahoo then committed a series of strategic errors, the mutation went to a bust, and the market value of Softbank decreased from more than $ 180 billion to $ 2.5 billion, or a 98 % decrease.

son I came back to his return Thanks to an investment of $ 20 million, just one month before Dotcom’s failure, which gave Softbank 34 % stake in the start of Chinese e -commerce, alibaba. The son claims that he decided to invest based on the pure intestine instinct after a six -minute meeting with Jack Ma. He recalls after years: “The look was in his eyes, it was” an animal smell. “

At its peak in 2020, the value of the Alibaba stake in Softbank was more than $ 200 billion, allowing Softbank to borrow money for investments in hundreds of other projects. In Japan, the company was a pioneer in the expansion of the high -speed internet and the wide range, in time to serve one of the most elderly generations in the world. In 2006, Softbank acquired Vodafone Japan, later renamed it as SoftBank Mobile, a step that changed the game that actually puts a son in a senior telecommunicory provider in Japan. This success paved the way for Softbank to buy the majority stake in SPRINT, which later merged with T-Mobile, and created The third largest airline for American phones.

SON appears to have been running out after 2017 when the Vision Indust Fund of $ 100 billion, the largest technology investment fund in the world, launched great support from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, the countless losses of the box forced many of the origins of SoftBank, including the largest part of its share in alibaba.

But if the son is concerned about these courses, then he rarely showed them. He lives in a luxurious palace in the Azabu Joban neighborhood in Tokyo, and in 2019, even with the presence of Softbank wealth that was striving under the failure of the failed public subscription in WeWork, he got a personal loan from Softbank to pay 117 million dollars-at all paid in exchange for American residential property at all.

When it suits him, the son, who displays samurai swords and shields from his personal collection in his office at the Softbank headquarters in Tokyo, can be scary like any feudal princes. Anthony Tan, founder of Super App Super App Super Super, who was called to Tokyo to hold a meeting with SON in 2014. After an hour, the son cut off the chase: he was making an offer that he should not reject. “You are taking my money, good for me, good for you,” Tan recalls. “You don’t take my money, not good for you.” (Take the money.)

Uber Dara Khosrowshahi CEO of Uber Dara Khosrowshahi gave a brief interpretation of the reason for the technology executives with countless trips from San Francisco to Tokyo to meet the son: “Instead of facing the capital cannon, I prefer to face the capital cannon behind me.”

The son’s cannon may have made a mistake in the vision box. But what enabled it to re -download is the success of another individual investment: Britain is the designer of the Arm Holdings arms, which Softbank took in 2016. Since September 2023, Matthew, Matthew Softbank the arm runway On the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the maximum market increased to approximately $ 120 billion, allowing Softbank to pledge some of its 90 % shares as a guarantee of debt.

Softbank will need this new ammunition. For Stargate, Softbank has pledged to save $ 19 billion from $ 52 billion of financing obligations for the project for a 40 % stake. In the middle of March, 6.5 billion dollars were launched Buy computing ampereAn American chip designer focusing on the calculation of artificial intelligence. Softbank’s total artificial expenditure obligations exceed $ 31 billion in cash in its public budget at the end of last year. Information Reports indicate that Softbank is in talks with bankers to borrow $ 16 billion for investment, in addition to $ 18.5 billion that she recently arranged for borrowing, which was secured by the share of its arm.

The biggest question on the horizon on Stargate’s bet is whether it will deserve revenue. On January 27, just six days after the White House ceremony, global investors woke up to the reports that Dibsic An unknown startup It was placed in Hangzhou, China, AI model that performs well or better than the leading Openai model but requires much lower memory and electricity is much lower. Dibsic said it has developed the model with less than 6 million dollars, and a small part of the major technology companies says billions are spent on its models.

19 billion dollars
Softbank initial funding for Stargate AI’s infrastructure project

the “Dibsic shock“Challenge the prevailing assumptions of the relationship between how to perform artificial intelligence models and how much they cost. But many technology society sees these doubts is distraction from a greater truth – that the increasing demand for artificial intelligence will create a strong need for power and devices, even if artificial intelligence models become more efficient. Altman has been in a paper on Openai on the Openai site on the website Openai. “

It is clear that the huge estimates of what will cost the building of the infrastructure do not scare the son. “Some people say, after Deepsic syndrome,” Oh, you are ending. “You know, you can save more through less spending.” But I think you are looking at it in the wrong way … How much will global GDP will be replaced by something more intelligent billion times? “

SON estimates that within a decade, the solutions driven by artificial intelligence will replace at least 5 % of global gross domestic product, and may reach 10 %: “You should not be afraid to spend a few trillion dollars if it returns from 9 to 18 trillion dollars per year. Why should it be effective? Why?

At the same event, Son Remember the previous meetings with Altman. In 2017, Altman came to Tokyo in search of funding, but Son sent him away from the free hand. Two years later, Openai has developed one of the most advanced artificial intelligence models in the world, SON offered a billion dollars in the project. This time, Taman refused.

On the stage, the son remembered the most bad for 2019: “I said you would go to AGI (artificial general intelligence). I immediately said,” I think you want to invest. “From there I was a believer.

“Some people think you are crazy too,” the German answered. “Everything works.”

This article appears in April/May 2025 version to luck With the title “Hayat Nine of Ibn Masayyoshi”.