SoftBank shares jumped over 10% on Thursday after the Japanese giant announced on Wednesday its approval to acquire the robotics division of Swiss engineering company ABB for $5.4 billion, enhancing SoftBank’s presence in the field of superintelligent AI.
This deal, subject to global regulatory approvals, means ABB will no longer seek to spin off its robotics business as a separately listed company.
Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, stated in a release: “The next frontier for SoftBank is physical AI. In collaboration with ABB Robotics, we will combine global technology and talent under our shared vision to integrate superintelligent AI and robotics, leading to pioneering progress that propels humanity forward.”
Superintelligent AI, or ASI, is Son’s concept of AI that is ten thousand times smarter than humans.
Son has aimed to position SoftBank at the heart of the potential AI boom through investments and acquisitions across various technology sectors. For example, SoftBank owns Arm, a chip design company, and holds a significant stake in OpenAI.
Bloomberg reported early Thursday that British chip design company Graphcore, owned by SoftBank, also plans to invest $1.3 billion in India, including a new research center.
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