SoftBank has invested $450 million into the British AI chip company Graphcore, furthering its focus on AI infrastructure and hardware. Acquired by SoftBank in 2024, Graphcore is known for developing AI chips and systems aimed at achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). This investment is part of a larger plan by SoftBank, which has directed tens of billions into AI initiatives, including stakes in OpenAI and a collaborative investment for a $500 billion project with OpenAI and Oracle. Graphcore is currently expanding its operations, notably with plans for a new AI campus in Bengaluru, India.

SoftBank: SoftBank Group is a Japanese investment conglomerate focused on AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and emerging technologies. It actively pursues AI hardware and compute initiatives, including partnerships for data centers and new robotics ventures for automating infrastructure builds. In this news, SoftBank provided funding to its subsidiary Graphcore to advance AI chip development amid broader AI plays.
Graphcore: Graphcore is a UK-based AI chip designer specializing in intelligence processing units and systems for AI workloads. Following its acquisition by SoftBank, it collaborates on artificial general intelligence and expands global operations with a new AI engineering campus. The company received a funding injection from SoftBank to support its AI chip and systems efforts.
Masayoshi Son: Masayoshi Son is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group, known for bold visions in AI and technology investments. He emphasizes AI’s transformative potential and leads strategic pivots into AI infrastructure and robotics. In relation to Graphcore, he highlighted its deep expertise in chip design that complements Arm’s semiconductor leadership.

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{
“India Expansion”: “Graphcore has announced its plan to invest in a new AI campus in Bengaluru for semiconductor development.”,
“Server Development”: “SoftBank is engaged in discussions about developing AI servers in collaboration with Nvidia and Foxconn.”
}
`