Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions.
The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close.
Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its most since April.
Photo: Reuters
Softbank, which owns Arm Holdings PLC, has for decades tried to be a central player in AI. For Intel, the Tokyo-based company’s move delivers a strong vote of confidence in a storied US chipmaker that has struggled to remain relevant in the AI sphere.
Intel aims to prove it can be a technology leader again after falling behind TSMC in contract chipmaking and Nvidia in chip design. Intel chief executive officer (CEO) Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) met with US President Donald Trump at the White House last week, helping lay the groundwork for discussions about ways to rescue Intel.
The Santa Clara-based company held talks with the Trump administration about a deal that would potentially turn the US into its biggest backer. Officials have discussed taking a stake of about 10 percent in the chipmaker, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
For Softbank, buying Intel stock expands its US footprint at a time when Tokyo is pressing Washington to cut tariffs in exchange for investments in the US.
However, the timing of the deal — days after Trump and Tan’s meeting — is spurring fears that politics might have played a part.
“If it’s political, then it’s not profit-motivated,” Asymmetric Advisors Pte Ltd strategist Amir Anvarzadeh said. “Investing in Intel to appease Trump is perhaps not seen as good business.”
In announcing its investment in Intel, Softbank paid tribute to the chip pioneer’s history.
“For more than 50 years, Intel has been a trusted leader in innovation,” Softbank founder Masayoshi Son said in a statement. “This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the United States, with Intel playing a critical role.”
Intel CEO Tan, a chip industry veteran who took the helm this year, has invested in start-ups alongside Son and spent years on Softbank’s board as an independent director before resigning in 2022.
“I appreciate the confidence he has placed in Intel with this investment,” Tan said.
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
FORECAST: The greater computing power needed for emerging AI applications has driven higher demand for advanced semiconductors worldwide, TSMC said The government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has raised its forecast for this year’s growth in the output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to above 22 percent on strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In its latest IEK Current Quarterly Model report, the institute said the local semiconductor industry would have output of NT$6.5 trillion (US$216.6 billion) this year, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision from a 19.1 percent increase estimate made in May. The strong showing of the local semiconductor industry largely reflected the stronger-than-expected performance of the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing segment,
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
RSS