SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is seeking up to $100bn from Gulf investors, including figures in the United Arab Emirates, to fund a massive AI expansion. The talks, held in recent weeks, are not guaranteed to succeed. The proposed fund would acquire companies and use AI to improve their operations, with SoftBank’s robotics and physical AI business, Roze, expected to play a central role.
Roze is planned for a public listing at a high valuation. Separately, OpenAI’s annualized revenue is about $20bn less than previously signaled, according to financial documents shared with investors. The White House is banning Microsoft, Adobe, and other tech companies from sponsoring workers for permanent US residency.
In other news, Labour retained Sir Keir Starmer’s old seat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with Sagal Abdi-Wali winning 12,292 votes. UBS faces regulatory challenges, while Marchesi Antinori reported a €5mn wine theft. Maersk is expanding its fleet, and Donald Trump stated the US will not strike Iran before the midterm elections.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing