By Eliot Brown
Fears over tariffs are taking their toll on SoftBank, one of the world's biggest investors in artificial intelligence.
Shares in the Tokyo-based global tech conglomerate fell 7.2% Friday and are down 20% over the past week-and-a-half, adding pressure to the company that has planned a deluge of AI expenditure.
The decline comes as shares in its biggest holding-a 90% stake in chip design company Arm-have been pummeled by concerns tariffs will hurt the semiconductor market. Another big factor: investors aren't thrilled by SoftBank's commitment to invest $30 billion in OpenAI, and the related $100 billion Stargate cloud computing plan.
Two ratings agencies- S&P and Japan Credit Rating Agency-raised concerns about those investments Monday. JCR lowered its outlook on SoftBank's ratings to negative; S&P said the company's financial condition would likely deteriorate.
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April 04, 2025 05:45 ET (09:45 GMT)
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