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SoftBank to make US$100B investment in US, Trump announces with CEO next to him


US president-elect Donald Trump, flanked by SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, announced on Monday that the Tokyo-based company would invest US$100 billion in the US over the next four years. in what they both called an inspiration to the country. economy.

Trump said in his joint appearance with Son that the investment would create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, with the money to be used before the end of Trump's term.

Trump said the investment was evidence of “monumental confidence in America's future.” He playfully encouraged Son to make the $200 billion investment in the US. Son smiled and said he would try.

The US$100-billion pledge, made at a flag-raising event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., echoes Trump's vow to strengthen the US economy and the influence of the -inflation has reduced Americans during his second. term, which begins on January 20.

Trump called Son “one of the most accomplished business leaders of our time.”

It is unclear whether jobs were created from a similar commitment in 2016

Monday's news echoes a similar promise Son made with Trump in December 2016, then president-elect before his first term, at Trump Tower, when Son said he would spend US$50 billion and create 50,000 jobs.

Although that money was eventually spent, it is unclear whether those jobs were created. SoftBank has been rebuilding its finances after the failure of WeWork, a high-flying venture capital firm based in New York, and after some of the tech companies it has invested in through the Their Vision Fund unit fell out of favor among investors.

Trump has an affinity for flashy announcements that promise thousands of jobs, even if such investments don't always pan out. Early in his first term, he announced a US$10-billion investment by Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn in a Wisconsin factory that promised thousands of jobs, but was mostly abandoned.

It is not clear how SoftBank plans to finance the new investment. As of September 30, it had about US$29 billion in cash and cash equivalents, according to its latest earnings report. After a sharp decline in shares between 2021 and 2023, its stock has recovered, gaining nearly 50 percent year to date.

The funding could come from various sources controlled by SoftBank, including the Vision Fund, capital projects or the chipmaker Arm Holdings, CNBC said.

Son has been a strong supporter of the potential for AI and has been pushing for SoftBank's expansion into the sector, participating in OpenAI and acquiring the Graphcore Startup Chip.

In October, Mac reaffirmed his belief in the coming of artificial intelligence, saying it would require hundreds of billions of dollars of investment.

Mac said at the time that he was saving money “so I can make the next big move,” but did not provide details.

Trump promised last week that he would extend a fast-track permit to any company that invests $1 billion or more in the United States.



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