SoftBank's Shock Move: Dumps Entire Nvidia Stake for $5.8 Billion! What's Brewing in AI?

SoftBank Group Corp announced on Tuesday that it has divested its entire holding in the US-based chipmaker Nvidia Corp, a sale valued at approximately $5.83 billion. The Tokyo-based conglomerate confirmed this during its earnings call, which revealed stronger-than-anticipated results for the second quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year. The proceeds from this Nvidia sale played a crucial role in SoftBank's Q2 net profit, which reached 2.5 trillion yen ($16.2 billion). Additional strong performance came from its Vision Fund investment arm, primarily driven by gains from its stake in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. SoftBank had previously increased its Nvidia stake to around $3 billion by the end of March, holding 32.1 million shares.

This is not SoftBank's first time exiting Nvidia; its Vision Fund had been an early investor, building a stake worth about $4 billion in 2017 before selling it off in January 2019. Despite this divestment, SoftBank remains connected to Nvidia through its ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, which rely on Nvidia's advanced chip technology, including the planned Stargate data centre project.

SoftBank's founder, Masayoshi Son, is aggressively expanding the company's presence in the AI and semiconductor sectors. The group is stepping up investments, including a potential $30 billion injection into OpenAI and a proposed $6.5 billion acquisition of chip designer Ampere Computing LLC. Son is also exploring partnerships with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and others for a potential $1 trillion AI manufacturing hub in Arizona.

Impact This news highlights SoftBank's strategic shift towards high-growth AI investments and its ability to generate significant capital through strategic divestments. It signals confidence in its future AI ventures. The sale could influence market sentiment around major tech stocks and AI infrastructure development. Rating: 7/10.

Definitions: AI Ventures: Business initiatives and companies focused on developing or utilizing artificial intelligence technologies. Semiconductor Foundry: A factory that manufactures semiconductor chips for other companies based on their designs.