India’s Growth in AI and Semiconductors: SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Sees India As AI Chip Capital of the World

New Delhi, November 28: As India makes strides in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors, SoftBank’s Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son has said that the country can become the AI chip capital of the world.

In a meeting with some leading Indian startup founders in the national capital, Son who has invested in several companies in the country, said he will invest more and more in AI in India in the coming years. This was Son's first trip to India in about two years. He was also reported to have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, although there was no official communication about the meeting yet. Samsung SDI Appoints Choi Joo-Sun as New CEO Amid Reshuffle.

SoftBank has invested in several Indian startups, including Snapdeal, Ola, Oyo, Housing.com and Grofers (now Blinkit and a Zomato company). Son had earlier declared that SoftBank would invest $10 billion in India over the coming years.

As the generative AI race heats up, SoftBank CEO was reportedly aiming to raise about $100 billion for his AI venture, reports surfaced earlier this year. The Japan's investment major swung to its biggest quarterly profit in two years in the September quarter, owing to growing number of IPOs in the Indian markets.

SoftBank reported a net income of 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) for the September quarter, a stark turnaround from last year’s net loss of 931 billion yen. The tech conglomerate’s gains were driven by rising share prices of publicly listed Indian companies within its Vision Fund investments. Samsung Leads Global Foldable Smartphone Industry With 56% Market Share Despite Global Q3 Shipments Decline: Report.

"After we were making large losses in the Vision Funds, we were very conservative. So now we were able to generate good profits as a result of learning from that," SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said after the earnings. The two Vision funds fully or partially exited investments to the tune of $1.85 billion. It made full exits from 10 portfolio companies, including digital payment firm Paytm.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 28, 2024 12:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).