The announcement came during Son’s visit to President-elect Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
The investment is expected to create at least 100,000 jobs and will be deployed before the end of Trump’s upcoming term. Son expressed strong confidence in the US economy following Trump’s election victory, stating, “My confidence level to the economy of the United States has tremendously increased with his victory. President Trump is a double down president. I’m going to have to double down.”
Trump welcomed the news, calling it a tremendous show of confidence in the US. “This historic investment is a monumental demonstration of confidence in America’s future, and it will help ensure that artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and other industries of tomorrow are being created and grown right here in the USA,” Trump said during the joint announcement.
This is not the first time SoftBank and Trump have made such a commitment. Following Trump’s 2016 election, SoftBank pledged US$50 billion with the aim of creating 50,000 jobs.
The new US$100 billion investment will likely draw funding from various SoftBank-controlled sources, including its Vision Fund, capital projects, or chipmaker Arm Holdings, where SoftBank is the majority owner. While parts of the investment may include previously announced funding, such as SoftBank’s recent US$1.5 billion commitment to OpenAI, the overall initiative highlights the firm’s continued push into AI and emerging technologies.
Also read: OpenAI employees offered to sell shares after SoftBank plops down US$1.5 billion
