SoftBank Strengthens Role in AI Race

SoftBank and Intel confirmed Monday that Masayoshi Son’s conglomerate will invest $2 billion in Intel stock, making SoftBank the chipmaker’s sixth-largest shareholder.

The Intel stake deepens SoftBank’s already sweeping role in the semiconductor race. (Photo: Softbank) 

The deal won’t grant SoftBank a board seat or chip-purchase obligations, but it adds fresh pressure to Intel’s turnaround efforts, Forbes Tech reported.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has been aggressively cutting costs to stave off calls for a breakup, after the company posted its first annual loss since 1986. Separately, SoftBank has bought a Foxconn factory in Ohio, which will now manufacture AI servers for the Stargate project instead of electric vehicles.

The Intel stake deepens SoftBank’s already sweeping role in the semiconductor race.

Beyond its involvement in the OpenAI–Oracle AI data center project (Stargate), SoftBank has made a string of chip deals, including its landmark Arm acquisition (2016) and more recent buys: Graphcore (2024) and Ampere (March 2025), founded by former Intel president Renée James.