Japanese tech investor SoftBank Group logged a smaller-than-expected 18% drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by a gain on its stake in chipmaker Intel even as it recorded no valuation gain from its holdings in OpenAI.
The investment and technology conglomerate booked record net income of more than 5 trillion yen ($31.70 billion) last year, boosted by the rising value of its ChatGPT holdings.
With corporate exposure to the AI boom in focus around the world, investors are focusing their attention on the finances of Masayoshi Son's SoftBank as he bets big on AI.
"There's clear demand and an overwhelming shortage of supply," chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto said at a press conference in Tokyo when asked about fears of a bubble in the buildout of AI data centers.
"I think we're in a very healthy state," he added.
