Report: SoftBank to invest $960 million to enhance artificial intelligence computing power
Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Group plans to invest 150 billion yen to enhance the computing power of its AI data centers, including purchasing GPU chips from NVIDIA for its own AI research and leasing to other companies. SoftBank also plans to build data centers across Japan, with an investment of 65 billion yen. This move is expected to strengthen SoftBank's competitive position in the AI field and boost Japan's participation in the global AI competition. SoftBank's investment in AI has also received a warm response from the market, with its stock price reaching a historic high
Author: Li Xiaoyin
Source: Hard AI
Nvidia adds another major Japanese buyer.
According to media reports, Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Group announced plans to invest a total of 150 billion yen (approximately $960 million) by 2025 to enhance the computing power of its AI data center.
It is reported that SoftBank's investment this time includes purchasing GPUs from Nvidia, with the purchased chips being used for its own AI research and some being leased to other companies in need.
Last year, SoftBank invested 20 billion yen in building computing infrastructure. With the announced 150 billion yen, it is expected that SoftBank's higher investment amount compared to all other companies will help it become the company with the highest computing power in Japan in the future.
Currently, SoftBank is dedicated to developing high-performance generative AI designed specifically for Japanese. The company expects to complete the development of a Large Language Model (LLM) containing 390 billion parameters in the 2024 fiscal year, and plans to start developing a high-performance model with 1 trillion parameters next year. For reference, OpenAI's GPT-4 has already reached the trillion-parameter level.
In addition to developing domestic AI technology, SoftBank is actively building data centers to support the launch of new AI services. The company plans to build data centers across Japan, with an investment of 65 billion yen. This initiative is expected to further solidify SoftBank's competitive position in the field of AI and boost Japan's participation in the global AI competition.
SoftBank's significant investment in AI has received enthusiastic market response. In late March, the company's stock price briefly reached 2064 yen, hitting a new high since its listing in 2018, as investors generally believe that the prospects for AI development are favorable for the company's long-term profitability.
Despite the current leading position of US tech companies in terms of performance and investment, Japan is catching up: Japanese companies including NTT and NEC are actively entering the AI field. Wall Street News previously mentioned that the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to provide a total of 72.5 billion yen (approximately $470 million) to five companies for AI development.
According to the latest forecast from market research firm Statista, the size of the generative AI market in Japan is expected to reach $13 billion by 2030, 17 times that of 2023