Tag - softbank

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SOFTBANK

The Logo of 7-Eleven is displayed at a convenience store in Tokyo in March last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2026
SoftBank said to consider buying stake in retailer Seven & i
The deal with PayPay would unite Japan’s dominant payments operator with its biggest convenience store operator.
Junichi Miyakawa, the head of SoftBank's telecom unit. The company's new AI-tailored-cloud venture, 49% of which will be owned by its parent group, has the potential to generate profit “on a different order of magnitude,” Miyakawa said in a recent interview.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2026
SoftBank plans to rent AI compute in U.S. at 10-gigawatt scale
The mobile carrier operator and group company will set up the new venture this month, aiming to supply data center capacity at a scale of 10 gigawatts by around 2030.
The industry ministry announced ¥387.3 billion in funding to develop a domestic foundation model for physical AI that controls robots, aiming to strengthen the country's competitiveness against the United States and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2026
Japan announces aid for domestic AI development project
The industry ministry aims to help the country catch up with the United States and China in AI technology.
Carro, which is backed by SoftBank Group, is also considering a second listing in Singapore.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2026
SoftBank-backed car marketplace Carro is said to explore U.S. IPO
Carro is working with advisers and may potentially raise as much as $500 million.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son dismissed the idea of space-based data centers, arguing that the AI race will be won by computing power on Earth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2026
Masayoshi Son dismisses Musk’s idea for orbital data centers
The main advantage of building data centers in space would be to slash electricity costs, but such expenses comprise a small fraction of total costs.
SoftBank Group had helped channel billions of dollars to startups through dedicated Latin American funds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2026
SoftBank finds fewer tech bets for venture capital in Latin America
The firm is targeting consumer-oriented AI companies with strong proprietary data, growing operations and technology teams capable of competing globally.
Kioxia Holdings has surged more than 670% this year, making it the best performer on the MSCI World Index.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 12, 2026
Kioxia becomes Japan’s most valuable firm as AI mania goes on
Shares of the Japanese memory chipmaker surged 7.6% Friday, lifting its market value above ¥44 trillion ($274 billion) just 18 months after its stock market debut.
SoftBank Group's efforts to secure at least $6 billion through a margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake have stalled after the company lowered its fundraising target.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2026
SoftBank’s attempt to get $6 billion OpenAI margin loan stalls
The development comes just weeks after the Japanese conglomerate cut its initial target from $10 billion.
Samsung Electronics workers chant slogans during a rally ahead of a planned strike outside the company's semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on April 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2026
Do Japan’s chip workers need a Samsung-style strike?
Even as Tokyo firms prepare to award customary summer bonuses, there will be nothing on the scale that South Korean companies are offering.
SoftBank Group's Paypay said it will take a 70.2% stake in privately held T&D Financial Life Insurance.
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2026
SoftBank’s PayPay to buy T&D’s life insurer for $840 million
PayPay, Japan’s dominant payments app, said it will take a 70.2% stake in privately held T&D Financial Life Insurance.
SoftBank, which already has a foothold in the payment services industry, is among the parties that have advanced to the second round of bidding for SP.Links.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2026
SoftBank among the bidders for Blackstone’s Japanese payment firm
Japan’s cashless payments market has expanded for more than a decade as consumers who once overwhelmingly favored paper money turn to electronic services.
Shares of SoftBank group climbed as much as 10% in Tokyo trading Monday, as AI-related shares climbed across the region.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2026
SoftBank overtakes Toyota as Japan’s most valuable company
Shares of the Masayoshi Son-led technology group climbed 14% in Tokyo trading, pushing its market capitalization past Toyota’s for the first time in more than two decades.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son during a news conference at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, on March 20
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2026
SoftBank plans up to €75 billion investment in French AI centers
The deal is a result of personal diplomacy between French President Emmanuel Macron and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who met in Japan earlier this year.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group President and Group CEO Toru Nakashima in 2025. Nakashima believes that Japan must make better use of medical resources.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 19, 2026
SMFG, Fujitsu and SoftBank forming medical alliance to help contain costs
As Japan faces another wave of retirees, technology might help keep the nation fit and control healthcare spending.
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
SoftBank profit jumps, emboldens Son to bet more on OpenAI
SoftBank earned a net income of ¥1.83 trillion in its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of ¥295.2 billion.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, is considering a multibillion-dollar investment in France for an AI data center project, people familiar with the matter says.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2026
SoftBank in talks for major data center project in France
CEO Masayoshi Son is considering a multibillion-dollar investment in the country as part of SoftBank’s broader buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
SoftBank will partner with South Korea’s Cosmos Lab and DeltaX to enable mass production of large-scale battery cells from the fiscal year starting next April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2026
SoftBank plans to make large-scale batteries for AI data centers
SoftBank Corp. will partner with South Korea’s Cosmos Lab and DeltaX to enable mass production from the fiscal year starting next April, the firm said.
SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son takes the stage with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an AI Conference in Tokyo in February 2025.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 8, 2026
OpenAI is so yesterday — even for SoftBank
Liquidity is as important as paper gains. There are already signs that capital markets are souring on Son’s biggest bet.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is driving a plan to establish a standalone artificial intelligence robotics and data center company in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2026
SoftBank to create and list AI firm Roze in U.S.
The investment firm aims to create and float such a vehicle as soon as this year, though the timing on that could slip to 2027, people familiar with the matter said.
Softbank Corp. CEO and President Junichi Miyakawa
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2026
SoftBank prepares to manufacture batteries for AI data centers
The Tokyo-based group is one of the world’s foremost supporters of AI, having committed hundreds of billions of dollars to investment in data centers, cloud services and startups.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER