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Tokyo-based Softbank’s profit for the fiscal year through March
totaled 1.15 trillion yen ($7.8 billion), a reversal from the
227.6 billion yen loss it racked up the previous year.
Annual sales climbed 7% to 7.2 trillion yen ($49 billion).
SoftBank has a wide-ranging partnership with OpenAI, the U.S.
artificial intelligence research organization behind ChatGPT. It
said it remains focused on promoting technology related to
artificial intelligence.
The company said it will continue to aggressively invest in new
AI companies like Glean and Helion, both U.S. companies.
SoftBank also recently decided to acquire the total equity of
Ampere, a U.S. cloud-and AI-focused semiconductor design
company, for $6.5 billion. It expects to complete the
transaction in the second half of this year.
Its investments include stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant
Alibaba and T-Mobile, a European mobile communications outfit.
Both gained value over the latest period.
Also helping its bottom line were strong results and royalties
at Arm, a British semiconductor and software design company in
which SoftBank is a major investor.
The company also logged gains from its SoftBank Vision Funds.
SoftBank invests in various companies, including ByteDance, the
Chinese multinational that’s behind TikTok, and PayPay, a
popular Japanese mobile payment application.
SoftBank said it was planning an IPO for PayPay. Launched in
2018, PayPay is now used by more than 68 million people,
according to SoftBank. Japan's population is about 125 million.
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