SoftBank to Invest $100 Billion in AI and Infrastructure in US

Japanese tech investment firm SoftBank will reportedly invest $100 billion in the United States over the next four years.

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SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced the investment Monday (Dec. 16) at President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Logo residence in Florida and said the money will be deployed by the end of Trump’s term, CNBC reported Monday.

The investment will create at least 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, according to the report.

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“My confidence level to the economy of the United States has tremendously increased with his victory,” Son said of Trump, per the report. “President Trump is a double-down president. I’m going to have to double down.”

Son made a similar investment ahead of Trump’s first term.

It was reported in December 2016 that SoftBank gave Trump credit as Son pledged to create 50,000 jobs and invest $50 billion in the U.S. through the firm’s $100 billion technology fund created with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.

Son told reporters at the time that he saw a lot of deregulation coming with a Trump presidency.

It was reported in September that the burgeoning needs of AI infrastructure are facing challenges associated with clean energy, permitting and workforce needs essential for the development of that infrastructure.

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AI’s expansion is creating an energy demand, which poses a challenge as U.S. tech companies vie for a limited electricity supply to power their growing data centers.

Son said in June that within three to five years, the AI industry is likely to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) — AI that is smarter than humans — and that 10 years from now, AI will be 10,000 times smarter than humans.

He added that AGI will not require people to “change the structure of human lifestyle,” but that “artificial super intelligence (ASI)” will be “a totally different story” and will deliver “a big improvement.”

It was reported in May that SoftBank plans to invest nearly $9 billion in AI, with its outlay for investments and commitments more than doubling in the 12 months since the company said it was ready to go on the “counteroffensive” in the AI sector.

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