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Softbank
has injected more than $450 million into a chip company, CNBC has learned, as the Japanese investment giant looks to continue its major play in AI infrastructure and hardware.
Graphcore, which is developing AI chips and systems and was acquired by the Japanese giant in 2024, issued a single share at the value of $457 million on April 10, according to a Companies House filing. A Graphcore spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the money was funding from SoftBank. SoftBank has been approached for comment.
At the time of the acquisition, SoftBank said U.K.-based Graphcore would collaborate with the company on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) — when AI matches or surpasses human intelligence.
