Son Zongyi continues to gamble on AI! Softbank ventures into battery production across industries, transforming into an enabler of AI infrastructure.

SoftBank Group's mobile division said that it plans to begin large-scale production of batteries at its factory in Sakai City, Osaka, to meet the growing demand for power in artificial intelligence (AI) services. SoftBank announced on Monday that it will collaborate with South Korean companies Cosmos Lab and DeltaX to start mass production from the new fiscal year starting in April next year. The goal is to produce 1 gigawatt-hour of energy storage systems annually, making the facility one of the largest of its kind in Japan, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. Media reports last month suggested that SoftBank may expand its capacity to several gigawatt-hours. These batteries will be used to power the AI data centers that SoftBank is developing. The company also plans to use these batteries for applications in the grid, factories, and other industrial and residential purposes. In the mid-term, SoftBank also aims to expand into global markets. As part of this plan, SoftBank will establish two joint ventures: AX Factory, as an operation and hardware manufacturing center for AI data centers; and GX Factory, as a manufacturing center for next-generation batteries, CECEP Solar Energy battery panels, and related products. The company aims to achieve annual revenue of over 100 billion yen (approximately $6.36 billion) through its new battery business by the fiscal year ending in 2030. Cosmos will use its zinc halide technology to help develop safer batteries, while DeltaX has expertise in high energy density design. This new initiative highlights SoftBank Group's long-term strategy of transforming its telecommunications business into an enabler of AI. SoftBank is also upgrading Japan's mobile communication networks to better serve the needs of AI devices, including Siasun Robot & Automation. The company's subsidiary's foray into battery manufacturing aligns with founder Masayoshi Son's grand vision - to compete on a global scale in AI and secure a stronger position and influence in the industry. Masayoshi Son's grand AI ambitions face reality check Masayoshi Son publicly stated last year that he wanted the group to become the largest platform provider in the field of artificial intelligence within the next ten years, benchmarking against Microsoft Corporation, Amazon.com, Inc., and Alphabet's Alphabet Inc. Class C, striving to create a dominant global tech platform. To achieve this ambition, SoftBank fully invested in the American AI company OpenAI, expecting to invest over $60 billion to acquire approximately 13% of OpenAI's shares, becoming one of its most significant external investors. However, this gamble is facing increasing market pressure and real challenges. Currently, investors' doubts about SoftBank's heavy investment in OpenAI continue to escalate. The competition in the AI industry is intensifying, with Anthropic's strong rise eroding the market share of coding and enterprise-level markets. In addition, factors such as lawsuits raised by Elon Musk and OpenAI's failure to meet revenue targets are casting a shadow over the development prospects of this ChatGPT developer, forming a stark contrast with the market environment when SoftBank made a significant initial investment in March 2025. As a result, SoftBank's financing plan using OpenAI shares as collateral had to significantly shrink, with the financing target being reduced from $100 billion to $60 billion, a 40% decrease. It is worth noting that SoftBank's stock price has soared by about 70% in the past month, approaching its historical high, and this strong upward trend will soon face a fundamental test. The market is waiting for SoftBank's full-year financial report on May 13th, with expectations that SoftBank may deliver impressive profit results with the help of AI assets like Arm. However, the core question that investors are most concerned about is whether the heavy investment in the increasingly challenging situation of OpenAI can ultimately realize its true value.