SoftBank is in talks to invest as much as $25bn into OpenAI. The deal would make it the start-up’s biggest financial backer. At the same time, the two companies are also partnering on a separate massive AI infrastructure project. Here to explain what all this says about SoftBank’s AI ambitions is the FT’s Arash Massoudi. Hi, Arash.

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son has made a strategic pivot toward the US market, appearing alongside President Donald Trump twice since his November election victory to unveil major investment plans.

Investors will be looking out for Malaysia’s central bank policy meeting today, where it’s expected to keep its policy rate steady at 3%.

World shares were mixed on Thursday after China rolled out more moves to try to boost its lagging stock markets by raising confidence that prices will rise. Germany's DAX gained 0.2% to 21,300 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.

CNBC's Alex Harring and Brian Evans contributed to this report. Softbank Group shares climb over 8% after U.S. AI infrastructure investment plans Shares of Softbank Group rose 8.6% after U.S ...

The partnership formed by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank is due to invest up to $500 billion. SoftBank's shares rose 3.7% on Thursday in Tokyo trading after jumping 11% the day before. Elsewhere in Asia, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.6% to 8,383.50, while the Kospi in Seoul lost 0.8% to 2,526.98.

Tech stocks lead gains in Hang Seng and Nikkei 225, fueled by Beijing stimulus, Trump’s tariff shift, and Fed rate cut hopes

Chinese artificial intelligence startup company DeepSeek stunned markets and AI experts with its claim that it built its immensely popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by American tech titans.

Beijing, China - Chinese firm DeepSeek's artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store's download charts, stunning industry

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks next to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Stella Qiu

President Donald Trump is meeting with Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang at the White House on Friday as the US prepares to tee up tariffs on semiconductors, weighs the fate of a subsidy program and probes whether Chinese AI startup DeepSeek skirted export controls to obtain the chipmakers’ products.