On August 28, according to media reports, SoftBank Group will lead a group of founders of Indian startups to Silicon Valley next month for an "artificial intelligence journey."。The move suggests SoftBank is stepping up its efforts to help companies it invests in introduce AI technology.。

Sumer Juneja, managing partner for investments in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India at SoftBank's Vision Fund, said SoftBank is helping the companies it invests in introduce and adopt artificial intelligence and has been arranging meetings for the founders it supports with leading companies in the field.。

Junija said that SoftBank is expected to lead some of the founders of start-ups to participate in this "artificial intelligence journey," the specific number of participants is not clear。SoftBank's investments in India include Oyo Hotels, car mobility service provider Ola and courier company Swiggy.。

With the rapid popularity of artificial intelligence products such as ChatGPT, SoftBank began to identify suitable artificial intelligence companies around the world to invest。Juneja said: "We don't want to invest in a company that misses the AI wave and becomes irrelevant after three years.。He said that the necessary conditions for Vision Fund to invest real money include having a mature technology team, being in the right industry, and being able to use artificial intelligence to make business models more efficient.。

Juneja said: "If you join the artificial intelligence faction too late, then you are finished, even if you join too early, it will not affect your income."。"

SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son, was once an investment enthusiast for startups。Since establishing the Vision Fund in 2017, Son has invested more than $140 billion in a number of start-ups to support research and application of multiple new technologies.。But in recent years, many of the startups SoftBank has invested in have seen valuations plummet, such as office-sharing startup WeWork, which has led to frequent losses at SoftBank, and the company's investments in startups have since fallen silent.。

In June, the long-silent Son returned to the public eye, saying SoftBank was ready to launch a "counter-offensive" and that SoftBank would focus on artificial intelligence.。

The reason that supports SoftBank's re-opening of the "money-throwing model" of digging and investing in startups everywhere is simple: SoftBank's wallets are bulging again.。It is understood that as of the end of June, SoftBank has accumulated about $35 billion in cash reserves, and its chip design company ARM is going through the process of listing, Arm's listing will raise more funds for it.。

David Gibson, an analyst at MST Financial who studies SoftBank, said: "ARM will be SoftBank's new Alibaba.。"

The investment in Alibaba was once seen as one of SoftBank's most successful investments, bringing it huge profits.。But to make up for the huge deficit in the Vision Fund, SoftBank has previously sold off Alibaba's shares several times.。In April this year, SoftBank significantly reduced its stake in Alibaba, and SoftBank's stake in Alibaba was running out of money.。

Gibson believes that after ARM's IPO, Son's company is likely to hold about $65 billion in cash and borrowing, which will fund its brewing investment frenzy。He added that Son is likely to start investing heavily in the next six to 12 months.。"It's a scene we haven't seen since the first Vision Fund.。"

Kirk Bodry, an analyst at Astris Consulting in Tokyo, estimates that if Arm were valued at $50 billion to $60 billion at the time of its initial public offering and SoftBank sold a 10 percent stake, the Arm listing would earn about $6 billion.。

He expects SoftBank will be able to borrow up to $25 billion with its remaining stake in Arm as collateral.。That would be about three times the amount the group currently borrows against its privately held Arm shares, as banks will be more willing to lend once the Arm is approved by the market.。

However, Buddy also warned that the amount of asset-backed financing and the actual proceeds from the IPO could be smaller.。Recently, SoftBank spent $16.1 billion to buy back about 25% of Arm's shares from other investors in the Vision Fund, a deal that corresponds to a valuation of $64 billion.。But given that the IPO market is in the "winter" at this stage, the market expects Arm's valuation to be below $64 billion.。