SoftBank (SFTBY, Financials) and Apollo Global Management (APO, Financials) are in discussions for creating a fund worth more than $20 billion to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure including chip manufacturers and data centers.
People acquainted with the situation, quoted by Semafor, said the negotiations cooled throughout the summer and may not result in a final agreement.
As the Semafor story notes, the endeavor might include working with businesses like Arm, the semiconductor firm majority-owned by SoftBank. According to insiders, while SoftBank has spoken with other possible investment sources, the conversations with Apollo were the most advanced, as Semafor said.
Semafor claimed SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has been looking for a financial partner to take on Nvidia, which dominates the premium AI chip industry. Among Son's past major investments include the $100 billion Vision Fund, established in 2017.
As mentioned in the Semafor analysis, companies like BlackRock (BLK, Financials) and Microsoft (MSFT, Financials) have also been exploring similar endeavors, hence the alleged AI push reflects more general tendencies. Furthermore, Apollo's financial capacity—including $700 billion in assets as of June 30, 2024—positioned them as a possible major participant in AI financing, Semafor said.
Arm—which helps chipmakers like Nvidia (NVDA, Financials) and Apple (AAPL, Financials)—may be included in any future AI-oriented investments from SoftBank, according to the report.
