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SoftBank is planning to create and list an AI and robotics company called Roze in the US that will be involved in building data centres as Masayoshi Son pushes to realise his massive AI ambitions.
Roze could be listed as early as this year, and executives at SoftBank are eyeing a valuation that could reach $100bn, according to people familiar with the matter.
SoftBank founder Son wants to list the group this year, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, as he rushes to offset spending commitments across the conglomerate’s portfolio that run into the tens of billions of dollars, including its huge pledges to OpenAI.
The Japanese group plans to hold an analyst day in a data centre facility in Texas in July to promote the IPO, according to the same people.
The group has not finalised how large a stake in Roze it will sell, but it has previously retained a majority share of the companies it has taken to public markets. SoftBank still holds nearly 90 per cent of UK chip designer Arm, which listed in 2023.
SoftBank declined to comment.
Despite Son’s optimism, some inside SoftBank are sceptical about the valuation and the proposed timeline for an IPO, in part due to the geopolitical and economic uncertainties following US President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran.
Adding to the risk for listings this year, US public markets may soon also have to absorb three of the largest ever IPOs: Elon Musk SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI.
The valuation target could shift and is considered ambitious by some SoftBank executives since it relies on rapidly expanding its data centre businesses.
ABB Robotics, which SoftBank agreed to buy last year, could play a critical role once the deal closes, alongside some existing group assets, including land and infrastructure, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
SoftBank is working fast on building its own data centres, including a large-scale project in Ohio, and people familiar with the matter say Son has big ambitions in the sector.
The power for the Ohio project is to be supplied by a $33bn gas power plant operated by SoftBank and funded by the Japanese government, via a trade deal with the US. It is a model that Son hopes to replicate in other US states.
The risks are rising for Son, who has staked his reputation on his ability to make SoftBank central to AI — a technology he believes is ushering in a new industrial revolution that will elevate humanity to its next phase.
Those ambitions are increasingly centred on the US, where Son has built a strong reputation with Trump.
As well as pivoting the entire group, including the Vision Funds, towards AI, SoftBank is a big investor in OpenAI and is in the process of deploying another $30bn of investment to the company.
The exposure to Altman and OpenAI was making some of Son’s lieutenants nervous and stretching the group’s balance sheet, said two senior figures at SoftBank.
SoftBank was already pushing up against its own leverage limits and would need to sell or monetise assets soon to maintain its spending trajectory, said people within the company.
OpenAI’s IPO is a central part of Son’s plan to reduce leverage, but the start-up is facing growing competition from rivals, including Google and Anthropic.
SoftBank’s share price has been highly volatile, as investors use the stock to gain exposure to OpenAI, and has been buffeted by expectation around tech stocks more broadly.
SoftBank hit a record high last October before falling by close to 45 per cent by March. It had since recovered much of its lost ground but fell sharply in the past few days over renewed fears about OpenAI’s growth.
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