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☆ The big AI and robotics concept that has attracted both Walmart and Softbank
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Softbank also owns 65% of the GreenBox venture, which launched with $100 million in investment by the two companies. They say it's a $500 billion market, and an example of the kind of change AI can bring to the economy at large. But not as many investors know about Softbank's "other" big AI investment, Wilmington, Mass.-based software and robotics maker Symbotic , which Walmart has taken a big stake in itself. Symbotic teamed up with Softbank to build GreenBox in order to preserve its own capital, Cohen told analysts. The GreenBox market for smaller companies shapes up as another $500 billion of possible demand, Gartner's Klappich said.

Persons: Rick Cohen, Softbank, Robert W, Baird, Vikas, Schwarz, Kristin Schwarz, Vikas Parekh, Parekh, Giordano, I've, TD Cowen, Joseph Giordano, GreenBox, Dwight Klappich, Symbotic, Klappich, Mason, Cohen, —, Bill Boyd, Gartner's Klappich, Doug McMillon Organizations: Walmart, CNBC, Gartner, Target, Venture, Arm Holdings, Wholesale, Forbes, Revenue Locations: GreenBox, Wilmington, Mass, Fla

The deal would give privately held C&S, primarily a supplier rather than an operator of grocery stores, a much more significant footprint. The stores that Kroger and Albertsons plan to shed are primarily in the Pacific Northwest and the Mountain states, along with some in California, Texas, Illinois, and the East Coast, the sources said. Bloomberg News reported about the talks between C&S, Kroger and Albertsons on Monday, as well as SoftBank's involvement but gave no information about the deal terms. Previously, Kroger and Albertsons said they may divest between 100 and 375 stores by placing them in a new company that Albertsons shareholders would own. In a regulatory filing Kroger said the upper limit for divestitures was 650 stores.

Persons: Rick Cohen, Cohen, SoftBank, Kroger, Ahold, Anirban Sen, Abigail Summerville, Juby Babu, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Rashmi Aich, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Kroger, Albertsons Cos Inc, S Wholesale Grocers, Grand Union, Piggly, SoftBank Group Corp, Symbotic Inc, Albertsons, Bloomberg News, Thomson, & $ Locations: Pacific Northwest, California , Texas , Illinois, East Coast, New York, Bengaluru

July 24 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group (9984.T) is forming a joint venture with warehouse automation company Symbotic (SYM.O) to build AI-powered warehouses that will be majority owned by the Japanese technology investor, the companies said on Monday. The unit has also signed a contract to buy AI-powered systems from Symbotic that will be worth $7.5 billion in the next six years. Based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Symbotic provides robotics warehouse automation solutions and counts Walmart (WMT.N) as its major backer and customer. The Japanese company will have a 65% stake in GreenBox, with Symbotic owning the rest. For fiscal year 2022, Symbotic reported revenue of $593.3 million, up 136% year over year, with a loss of $139.1 million.

Persons: Symbotic, Rick Cohen, upping, Masayoshi Son, Zaheer Kachwala, Krystal Hu, Shailesh Kuber, Anil D'Silva, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: SoftBank, Systems, SoftBank Group Corp, Walmart, JV, Tokyo bourse, Thomson Locations: SoftBank, Wilmington , Massachusetts, Tokyo, GreenBox

☆ SoftBank forms JV to build AI-powered warehouses with Symbotic
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 24 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group (9984.T) is forming a joint venture with supply-chain services provider Symbotic to build AI-powered warehouses that will be majority owned by the Japanese technology investor, the companies said on Monday. The firms are investing a total of $100 million in the venture, which will be called GreenBox Systems. The unit has also signed a contract to buy AI-powered systems worth $7.5 billion for its warehouses from Symbotic. The deal will give SoftBank, already an investor in Symbotic, warrants representing about 2% of the U.S. company's outstanding shares. The Japanese firm said it had also bought 17.8 million shares of Symbotic from CEO Rick Cohen.

Persons: Rick Cohen, Masayoshi Son, Vikas Parekh, Greenbox, Symbotic, Zaheer Kachwala, Shailesh Kuber, Anil D'Silva Organizations: SoftBank, Systems, Tokyo bourse, SoftBank Investment, JV, Thomson Locations: Symbotic, Tokyo, GreenBox

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