SoftBank's profits soar unexpectedly as Masayoshi Son's artificial intelligence investments achieve great success

Golden Ten Data, May 13 – SoftBank Group reported an unexpected increase in quarterly profit, mainly due to the rising valuation of its investment in OpenAI. The Tokyo-based technology group achieved a net profit of 1.83 trillion yen (11.6 billion USD) in the fourth fiscal quarter, while analysts had on average expected 295.2 billion yen. The increase in OpenAI’s valuation boosted SoftBank’s performance, while conflicts in the Middle East disrupted the markets. During this period, the share prices of SoftBank’s major listed subsidiaries, including Coupang and Grab Holdings, both declined, affecting the company’s profits. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has been selling shares and increasing SoftBank’s debt burden to fund its continually expanding investments in artificial intelligence. The billionaire announced grand plans involving data center investments worth tens of billions of dollars, while pledging to raise SoftBank’s total investment in OpenAI to 64.6 billion USD by the end of the year.