Quick Take SoftBank tripled its Nvidia stake to $3 billion and bought into TSMC as founder Masayoshi Son positions the conglomerate to control key AI infrastructure after missing the initial generative AI boom.
The Breakdown SoftBank raised its Nvidia holdings from $1 billion to $3 billion by March while adding $330 million in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) shares and $170 million in Oracle stock. This shopping spree comes as Son tries to rebuild influence in the AI ecosystem after selling a 4.9% Nvidia stake in 2019 that would be worth over $200 billion today – a timing misstep that still haunts the Japanese tech giant.
The moves center around SoftBank's crown jewel: chip designer Arm Holdings. With Arm's intellectual property powering most mobile chips and increasingly used in servers, Son is building a semiconductor portfolio around this strategic asset. "Nvidia is the picks and shovels for the gold rush of AI," noted Ben Narasin of Tenacity Venture Capital, suggesting SoftBank's equity stakes could provide preferential access to scarce AI chips.
Investor Lens Markets have rewarded Son's audacious AI pivot – SoftBank shares hit record highs last month despite trading at a 40% discount to net asset value. The company's $118 billion market cap remains dwarfed by Nvidia's $4.4 trillion valuation, but upcoming quarterly results should show a return to profitability after Vision Fund losses.
Key catalysts include the pending $6.5 billion Ampere Computing acquisition and a potential $30 billion OpenAI investment, both offering investors indirect exposure to the AI leader's growth trajectory.
Context Check This represents Son's attempt to leapfrog into AI's commanding heights through the $500 billion Stargate data center project with OpenAI and Oracle, plus a proposed $1 trillion Arizona manufacturing hub. With AI and semiconductors becoming geopolitical flashpoints, Son is cultivating Trump administration ties while navigating FTC scrutiny of the Ampere deal.
The strategy acknowledges a brutal reality: after pioneering early AI investments, SoftBank largely missed generative AI's historic rally. Now Son aims to control both "upstream and downstream" of AI infrastructure, positioning SoftBank as the essential platform for artificial superintelligence.
Source: South China Morning Post, August 5, 2025