CANADA – 2025/08/07: In this photo illustration, the logo of SoftBank Group (Soft Bank) is displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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According to the Financial Times, SoftBank Group is planning to form and list a standalone artificial intelligence and robotics company in the US as early as this year. informed On Thursday.
The new unit, which will be called “Rose,” will focus on using robotics to improve the efficiency of building data centers and AI infrastructure, according to the report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
SoftBank founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son is running the effort, with executives reportedly targeting a valuation of about $100 billion and pursuing an initial public offering this year.
However, the report notes that valuation targets and timelines are subject to change and that the plans are considered ambitious by some SoftBank executives, partly due to uncertainties arising from the conflict in the Middle East.
Son’s AI risk appetite has been growing in recent years, with tens of billions of dollars invested in the field. However, investors have raised concerns about how SoftBank will fund those investments, particularly its support of OpenAI, which remains unprofitable.
The proposed listing could help deliver on some key pledges, including the more than $30 billion committed to OpenAI.
Rose could reportedly bundle existing energy, land and infrastructure assets from SoftBank’s portfolio, as well as ABB Robotics, which SoftBank will acquire. It was agreed to buy last year.
ABB Robotics is one of the world’s leading suppliers of robotics and machine automation solutions, and SoftBank hopes to integrate its robotics hardware with AI capabilities.
SoftBank representatives did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Son’s AI ambitions have increasingly focused on the US, with the company already establishing itself as a major financier of US AI infrastructure.
Early last year, SoftBank partnered with OpenAI, Oracle and others on the Stargate project, which plans to invest $500 billion to build AI data center capacity across the country.
The group is also increasingly working to build its own data centers, including a large-scale project in Ohio.
SoftBank posted a $2.4 billion profit in its Vision Fund in the December quarter as gains related to its OpenAI investment helped offset losses in some of its other bets.
The company was trading 0.9% lower on Thursday and is up more than 18% this year.
