SoftBank has sold its entire stake in U.S. chipmaker Nvidia for $5.83 billion, marking one of its boldest portfolio realignments as the Japanese conglomerate doubles down on artificial intelligence, especially through its massive investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
The company said in its second-quarter earnings report that it sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October, alongside a $9.17 billion sale of part of its T-Mobile holdings. SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto described the moves as part of a broader “asset monetization” strategy designed to keep liquidity strong while aggressively funding new AI ventures.
“We want to provide a lot of investment opportunities for investors, while we can still maintain financial strength,” Goto told investors during a presentation. “Through those options and tools, we make sure that we are ready for funding in a very safe manner,” he added, in comments translated by the company.
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A Shift From Profit-Taking to Strategic Repositioning
The Nvidia sale raised eyebrows, given the U.S. chipmaker’s central role in powering the AI boom. But some analysts quoted by CNBC say the move is less about losing faith in Nvidia and more about freeing up cash for what SoftBank calls its “all-in” bet on OpenAI and related projects.
“This should not be seen, in our view, as a cautious or negative stance on Nvidia,” said Rolf Bulk, equity research analyst at New Street Research. “Rather, it must be viewed in the context of SoftBank needing at least $30.5 billion of capital for investments in the Oct–Dec quarter, including $22.5 billion for OpenAI and $6.5 billion for Ampere.”
Bulk noted that the total represents “more in a single quarter than it has invested in aggregate over the two prior years combined,” underscoring the scale of SoftBank’s current push into artificial intelligence.
Morningstar’s Dan Baker echoed that sentiment, saying the Nvidia sale “wasn’t any view on Nvidia” but rather a strategic reallocation.
“At the end of the day, they are using the money to invest in other AI-related companies,” he said.
Nvidia and SoftBank: A History of Strategic Entanglement
SoftBank’s relationship with Nvidia has long been cyclical. Its Vision Fund first built a $4 billion stake in the chipmaker in 2017, before selling all its shares in January 2019. The latest divestment, therefore, marks the second time SoftBank has cashed out of Nvidia after a period of strong valuation growth.
Despite the exit, the two companies remain intertwined through overlapping ventures. SoftBank is a partner in several AI and data infrastructure projects that depend on Nvidia’s GPU technology, including the ambitious $500 billion “Stargate” project for U.S. data centers.
Nvidia shares fell 0.95% in premarket trading on Tuesday, but analysts say the sale is unlikely to dent confidence in the company’s long-term trajectory, given record demand for AI chips and data center components.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund posted a $19 billion gain in the quarter — its best performance in years — largely due to soaring valuations of AI firms in its portfolio. Goto said the success was partly driven by the company’s early investment in OpenAI last year, which has since reached a $500 billion valuation by fair value estimates.
“The reason we were able to have this result is because of September last year — that was the first time we invested in OpenAI,” Goto said. He described OpenAI’s valuation as one of the world’s largest, ranking it alongside major tech giants by market worth.
The Vision Fund’s renewed momentum marks a turnaround for SoftBank, whose earlier bets on startups like WeWork and Katerra led to significant losses. Now, the company is positioning itself as a central player in the global AI race, investing heavily across the value chain — from semiconductor firms and data center operators to robotics and large language models.
Still, not everyone is convinced the AI rally will sustain. SoftBank’s stock has slumped over the past week, reflecting investor unease about what some analysts call an “AI bubble.” The fear is that valuations of AI-focused firms are running far ahead of actual revenue growth, echoing patterns from past tech booms.
Goto addressed those concerns, saying SoftBank remains focused on “providing as many investment opportunities as possible” to shareholders while maintaining balance sheet flexibility. The company’s planned four-for-one stock split, he said, is part of that strategy to “broaden access” and attract more investors.
“We know our share price has been moving dynamically,” he said, acknowledging the market volatility. “But this is part of a larger effort to strengthen our financial base and support long-term growth.”
However, with SoftBank now firmly pivoting toward AI, the company appears ready to play a defining role in shaping the industry’s future infrastructure. Analysts expect further announcements of partnerships and acquisitions in the coming months, particularly as it channels billions into AI chip design, robotics, and large-scale data centers.
While its exit from Nvidia may have startled markets, the move points to a company repositioning itself for a new era — one where SoftBank is betting that artificial intelligence, not semiconductors alone, will be the true engine of the next technological revolution.