OpenAI investment surge supports performance: SoftBank Vision Fund profits $2.4 billion in a single quarter, with AI deployment becoming a key driver

On February 12, Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank Group announced its latest financial report, revealing that its Vision Fund achieved approximately $2.4 billion in profit for the quarter ending December. Although some investments are still in loss, the rapid increase in valuations of core assets such as OpenAI has effectively offset downward pressure, becoming the main source of profit this quarter.

In recent years, SoftBank has continued to increase its focus on the artificial intelligence sector, with the Vision Fund concentrating capital on AI companies regarded as “next-generation industry leaders,” aiming to establish long-term advantages in the global AI industry chain. Among these, investments in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, are considered one of the most strategically significant moves. Market estimates suggest that SoftBank’s related investments in OpenAI amount to nearly $40 billion, and the company’s current valuation has risen rapidly, significantly improving the asset performance of the Vision Fund.

In addition to OpenAI, SoftBank also views Arm as a crucial part of AI infrastructure. As global demand for computing power and chips continues to grow, Arm’s stock performance has been strong, bringing substantial unrealized gains to SoftBank. Meanwhile, the Vision Fund maintains broad investments in cutting-edge fields such as robotics, autonomous driving, and intelligent manufacturing, forming an AI ecosystem network covering both software and hardware.

On the capital markets side, driven by stable growth in telecommunications and rising Arm stock prices, SoftBank’s share price rebounded significantly this week, with investors re-evaluating the long-term value of its AI strategy. Analysts point out that OpenAI’s rapid commercialization is changing market valuation logic for large AI companies and giving early heavy investors a first-mover advantage.

As generative AI applications accelerate their penetration into enterprise services, consumer scenarios, and data infrastructure, SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment structure is gradually shifting toward high-growth AI assets. Moving forward, its performance will remain highly correlated with the development pace of the global AI industry. (CNBC)