Softbank Group To Invest US$2 Billion In Intel, Continuing US Chip Expansion

TOKYO, Aug 19 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- SoftBank Group Corp. will invest US$2 billion in struggling United States (US) chipmaker Intel Corp., the companies said on Tuesday, marking the Japanese investment fund's latest move into the development of artificial intelligence technology, Kyodo News Agency reported.

"Semiconductors are the foundation of every industry," said SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son in a joint statement with Intel, showing his commitment to expanding advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply in the United States.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said, "We are very pleased to deepen our relationship with SoftBank."

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Under the agreement, SoftBank Group will acquire Intel common stock priced at US$23 per share.

With the US company's market capitalisation at around US$100 billion, SoftBank's investment would likely represent an equity stake of approximately two per cent.

The move comes as Bloomberg News reported on Monday that the administration of US President Donald Trump is in discussions for the government to take a stake of about 10 per cent in Intel.

SoftBank Group is looking to increase its footprint in AI infrastructure in the United States, alongside companies such as OpenAI -- the developer of the widely used ChatGPT large language model.

SoftBank, OpenAI and other partners said in January that they will invest at least US$500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years under a new project dubbed the Stargate Project.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO