DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ OpenAI closes funding at $157 billion valuation, as Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank join round
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on May 21, 2024. OpenAI has closed its long-awaited funding round at a valuation of $157 billion, including the $6.6 billion the company raised from an extensive roster of investment firms and big tech companies. Thrive planned to invest $1 billion in the round, CNBC previously reported. Earlier this year, OpenAI was valued at a reported $80 billion, up from $29 billion in 2023. There are also 11 million ChatGPT Plus subscribers and 1 million paying business users on ChatGPT, a person close to the company said.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, SoftBank, Sarah Friar, Friar, Mira Murati, Bob McGrew, Barret Zoph, Altman, Bret Taylor, Sam, Taylor Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, CNBC, New York Times, OpenAI, Italian Tech, Khosla Ventures, Fidelity, MGX, Tiger Global Locations: Redmond , Washington

☆ Cathie Wood's Ark is doubling down on OpenAI with at least $250 million in its new funding round
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Melia Russell | Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund invested at least $250 million in this new round. OpenAI is now Ark Venture Fund's third-largest holding, accounting for about 5% of its total assets. AdvertisementCathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund has agreed to invest at least $250 million in OpenAI's latest funding round, three people familiar with the round said. OpenAI is now Ark Venture Fund's third-largest holding, accounting for about 5% of the fund's total assets, according to its website. On Wednesday, a retail investor shared a screenshot of what appears to be an email she received from Ark Venture Fund informing her of its new OpenAI investment.

Persons: OpenAI, —, Ark, Musk Organizations: Ark Venture Fund, Ark Venture, Service, Microsoft, Tiger Global, Nvidia, Khosla Ventures, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: Abu Dhabi, United Arab, xAI

OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding raise attracted some big names across the industry. The $6.6 billion round gave OpenAI a $157 billion post-money valuation and minted it into one of the most valuable startups in the world. MicrosoftMicrosoft invested a little under $1 billion into OpenAI's latest funding round, according to The Wall Street Journal report. FidelityFidelity also participated in OpenAI's latest funding round. AdvertisementAltimeter Capital ManagementAltimeter Capital Management also contributed to OpenAI's latest funding round, according to reports.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Here's, Anderson Cooper, Josh Kushner, Instagram, Kushner, Altman, josh, SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, Son, Marco Bello, Wood, Morningstar, Bing, Jensen Huang, Sam Yeh, Elon Musk's, Brad Gerstner, Gerstner, Vinod Khosla, Vaughn Ridley, Khosla, MGX Organizations: Service, Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, Getty, Capital, Business, VC, Wall Street, Reuters, Vision Fund, Venture, ARK Invest, ARK Venture Fund, SpaceX, Microsoft Microsoft, Wall, Rival Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia Nvidia, Nvidia, Tiger Global Management, Fidelity Fidelity, Elon, Elon Musk's xAI, Fidelity, Capital Management, . Khosla, Getty Khosla Ventures, Sun Microsystems, United Arab, Bloomberg Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley, OpenAI ., Tokyo, Saudi, ARK, AFP, IPOs, America, United Arab Emirates

☆ Distinction between Softbank's AI strategy and Vision Fund: Analyst
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNeed to differentiate between Softbank's AI strategy and the Vision Fund's investment in OpenAIKirk Boodry of Astris Advisory says SoftBank's strategy around generative AI, which targets downstream companies, needs to be separated from the Vision Fund's investment in OpenAI.

Persons: OpenAI Kirk Boodry Organizations: Astris Locations: OpenAI

Last year, Son — who says he uses ChatGPT every day — is said to have met with Sam Altman, the A.I. That included talks for Son to provide up to $1 billion in funding to Altman and Jony Ive, the designer behind the iPhone, to create an A.I.-powered replacement for the smartphone. Bloomberg reported that SoftBank had hoped to be part of OpenAI’s last fund-raising round, but was instead wait-listed. Son is also trying to organize the auto industry around the use of A.I. The strike poses a significant threat to the U.S. economy, with analysts estimating it could cost up to $7.5 billion a week.

Persons: SoftBank, Son —, Sam Altman, Altman, Jony, Son, Cerebras Organizations: Bloomberg, Nvidia, Gulf Coasts, International Longshoremen’s Association Locations: OpenAI’s, ramping, A.I, British, Wayve, Gulf, U.S

☆ VCs are rushing to meet with former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati in hopes of funding a new company
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mira Murati announced her departure from OpenAI last week. In an X post, Murati wrote, "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." AdvertisementVenture capitalists are clamoring to meet with Mira Murati, the former CTO of OpenAI, as Silicon Valley expects her to start her own company soon. In a X post, Murati announced her departure from OpenAI last week. Murati wrote, "My six-and-half years with the OpenAI team have been an extraordinary privilege…There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right."

Persons: Mira Murati, OpenAI, Murati, Ilya Sutskever, —, … There's, Andrej Karpathy, Anthropic, Dario Amodei, Aravind Srinivas, Sam Altman, Mira, Bob McGrew, Barret Zoph, –, Altman, Wojciech Zaremba, Zaremba Organizations: Service, Venture, Business, OpenAI, Eureka Labs, San, supercomputing, Tesla, Microsoft, Altman, Reuters Locations: Silicon, OpenAI, San Francisco

☆ Masayoshi Son is the $100 billion gambler who went from dirt track to tech titan — and he isn't done betting yet
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-28 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has spent his life putting bold bets on the future of technology. SoftBank, the media-technology conglomerate Son founded two decades prior, was riding high on the glory it attained in the dot-com boom. He was told he was special," Barber told BI. "He wants to be seen as the great modernizer transforming this petrostate into a truly modern economy where technology is at the forefront," Barber told BI. But as previous cycles in Son's life dictate, the flurry of enthusiasm is typically followed by failure.

Persons: Masayoshi Son, Lionel Barber, —, Son, Bill Gates, Masa —, Uber, Barber, Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, — he's, Jack Ma's Alibaba, Wang, he's, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, Qin Shi Huang, Emperor of, Microsoft's Gates, Jordan Strauss, Mitsunori, SoftBank, Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, Masayoshi, Justin Sullivan, Rajeev Misra, Nikesh Arora, Phil McCarten, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi, Michael Moritz, Kim Jong, Adam Neumann, Donald Trump, Wirecard, Jesus, NurPhoto, He's, Allen Lane Organizations: Service, Financial Times, Kremlin, Yahoo, Popular Electronics, Vision, Deutsche Bank, Google, Reuters, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Vision Fund, Valley's, Sequoia Capital, Greensill, Nvidia, Signal Publishers Locations: Tokyo's Roppongi, Japan, Masayoshi, Washington, Wayne, Emperor of China, Kyushu, United States, Riyadh, Berkeley, Las Vegas

☆ Major global chip stocks rally on Micron's 15% surge; ASML up 4%
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Global chip stocks rallied on Thursday after U.S. memory semiconductor maker Micron posted revenue guidance that topped expectations and boosted its share price. SK Hynix and Micron are both suppliers of memory chips to Nvidia's products designed for artificial intelligence processes in data centers. HBM chips are seen as key for AI. Micron reiterated that its HBM chips are sold out for 2024 and 2025. The optimism around Asian chip stocks filtered through to Europe.

Organizations: Micron, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Samsung, Tokyo Electron, Nikkei, SoftBank, Semiconductor Locations: U.S, South Korea, Japan, Europe, Dutch

Sovereign wealth funds out of the Middle East are emerging as key backers of Silicon Valley's artificial intelligence darlings. In the past year, funding for AI companies by Middle-Eastern sovereigns has increased fivefold, according to data from Pitchbook. Few venture funds have deep enough pockets to compete with the multibillion-dollar checks coming from the likes of Microsoft and Amazon . MGX was launched as a dedicated AI fund in March, with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and AI firm G42 as founding partners. For the U.S., having sovereign wealth funds invest in American companies, and not in global adversaries like China, has been a geopolitical priority.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Prince Mohammed bin Salman's, Uber, LIV, UAE's Mubadala, MGX, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, Anthropic, Andreessen Horowitz, Jamal Khashoggi, It's, Bpifrance, WeWork spiraled, Jared Cohen, there's Organizations: United, CNBC, Microsoft, Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Abu, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Qatar Investment Authority, BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Saudi, U.S, Saudi Company, Artificial Intelligence, Washington Post, SoftBank, Goldman Sachs Global Institute Locations: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Pitchbook, Abu Dhabi, Temasek, Singapore, China, UAE

☆ The hottest AI startups are raising back-to-back funding rounds. Suddenly, it's feeling very 2021 in Silicon Valley for a chosen few.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Ben Bergman | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Read previewIn February, Glean announced a $200 million funding round valuing the AI enterprise software startup at $2.2 billion. AdvertisementThe transaction is the latest in a string of dizzying back-to-back funding rounds at ever-higher valuations for a handful of AI startups that stand in stark contrast to the doldrums of the overall market for startups. Earlier this year, Sakana raised $30 million in a seed funding round led by Lux Capital. Slingshot AI, which has built an automated mental health counselor, also raised separate rounds of funding just months apart. Advertisement"VCs are increasingly faced with frequent requests from their hot AI companies to follow on or double down on investments," said Iris Sun, an investor at 500 Global.

Persons: —, Glean, Arvind Jain's inbox, Jain, Steve Brotman, Perplexity, SoftBank, Sakana, Gregg Hill, that's, Matt Murphy, Dario Amodei, Kimberly White, Murphy, I'd, I've, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, Jai Das, Rajeev Dham, couldn't, Das, Sapphire, Uber, Iris Sun, Chandrasekar Organizations: Service, Business, DST Global, Alpha Partners, Bloomberg, Google, New Enterprise Associates, Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Parkway Venture Capital, Menlo Ventures, Getty, Sapphire Ventures, Investments Locations: Tokyo

☆ British e-commerce firm THG to spin off technology platform Ingenuity
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

If and when the demerger is approved, THG's group company will consist of only its THG Beauty and THG Nutrition divisions. THG formed THG Ingenuity in 2021 as a separate venture selling e-commerce solutions for retailers. THG's Moulding has previously described THG Ingenuity as a "social media influencer platform" to promote products, including brands sold by THG as well as those sold by other companies, too. The deal at the time gave SoftBank the option to invest an additional $1.6 billion in THG Ingenuity. However, in October 2022, SoftBank ended its investment deal with THG and sold its entire stake in the company to Moulding.

Persons: THG, Matthew Moulding's, SoftBank Organizations: U.K, HMRC, THG Locations: British, THG

Uber announced Friday it is expanding its partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo to offer robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta beginning in early 2025. Uber riders in those cities can be matched with a driverless Waymo car for some trips, according to the companies. A Waymo spokesperson said it had no plans to partner with Uber in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Uber’s initial agreement with Waymo in Phoenix also included autonomous Uber Eats deliveries in the city. Some analysts were more hopeful for a potential Uber and Waymo expansion into San Francisco.

Persons: Uber, Alphabet’s Waymo, Tesla’s, Bernstein, Waymo, “ We’re, ” Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, Tekedra Mawakana, “ We’ve, GM’s Cruise, Cruise, Wells, Ken Gawrelski Organizations: Uber, Waymo, Atlanta, Google Locations: Austin , Texas, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, San Francisco , Los Angeles

Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty ImagesUber announced Friday it is expanding its partnership with Alphabet's Waymo to offer robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta beginning in early 2025. Uber riders in those cities can be matched with a driverless Waymo car for some trips, according to the companies. A Waymo spokesperson said it had no plans to partner with Uber in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The expansion into Austin and Atlanta won't include Uber Eats at first, according to the Waymo spokesperson, but they're exploring that possibility for the future. Some analysts were more hopeful for a potential Uber and Waymo expansion into San Francisco.

Persons: Patrick T, Fallon, Alphabet's Waymo, Uber, Tesla, Bernstein, Waymo, We're, Dara Khosrowshahi, Tekedra Mawakana, We've, Cruise, Wells, Ken Gawrelski, — CNBC's Laura Batchelor, Lora Kolodny Organizations: AFP, Getty, Uber, Waymo, Atlanta, Google Locations: Los Angeles , California, Austin , Texas, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, San Francisco , Los Angeles

☆ Nikkei jumps 3%, leading Asia-Pacific markets higher
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Anniek Bao | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A General view showing the Central Business District in Central on May 18, 2023 in Hong Kong, China. Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street after a volatile session spurred by inflation data. Japan's producer price index rose 2.5% year-on-year in August, less than the expected 2.8% and the 3% reported in the previous month. Investors will also look toward the release of Hong Kong's producer price index for the second quarter this afternoon. The listing is set to be the largest offering in Hong Kong since May 2021.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Goldman Sachs, Hong Organizations: Central Business District, Nikkei, Nvidia, Technology Conference, SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, SoftBank, Bank of Japan, Reuters, Midea Locations: Central, Hong Kong, China, Asia, Pacific, San Francisco, Tokyo, India

☆ Asian chip-related stocks rally on renewed AI optimism after Nvidia CEO comments
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Anniek Bao | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks during an event in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sunday, June 2, 2024. Asian chipmaking heavyweights extended Wall Street's rally as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made bullish comments about the AI darling's outlook. Stocks tied to Nvidia suppliers and semiconductor related companies rallied in Asia as the bullish investor sentiment spilled over. Contract chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp jumped as much as 5% and Hon Hai Precision Industry — known internationally as Foxconn — gained over 4%. Japanese chip-related stocks also soared, including semiconductor testing equipment supplier Advantest which gained over 9%.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Goldman Sachs, Huang, Stocks, — Organizations: Nvidia Corp, Nvidia, Goldman, Technology Conference, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, Hai Precision Industry, TSMC, Tokyo, SoftBank Group, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, San Francisco, Asia, South Korea

☆ AI-powered search startup Glean doubles valuation in new funding round led by Altimeter
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Riley De León | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

AI-powered search startup Glean said Tuesday it has raised $260 million in a funding round that values the tech company at $4.6 billion — more than double its last reported valuation. Glean competes with a herd of well-financed generative AI startups and tech giants, attempting to compete with Microsoft Copilot and chatbot Amazon Q. Glean's Series E round, led by Altimeter and DST Global, includes Craft Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, all new investors in the company. Founder and CEO Arvind Jain started Glean in 2019 with other former Google engineers as an enterprise search engine. The company soon transitioned to generative AI.

Persons: Arvind Jain, Glean, Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, Jain Organizations: CNBC, Glean, Microsoft, DST Global, Craft Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Latitude, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, IDC Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Palo Alto , California

☆ Uber takes stake in SoftBank-backed self-driving tech startup Wayve
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-29 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — Uber and British artificial intelligence startup Wayve announced a partnership Thursday that will see the two firms collaborate on autonomous driving technology. As part of the deal, Uber is also investing an undisclosed amount into Wayve for a minority stake, the companies said in a statement. He said that, together with Uber, Wayve is "excited to work with Automotive OEMs [original equipment makers] to bring autonomous driving technologies to consumers sooner." In the future, Uber intends to launch self-driving vehicles on its app equipped with Wayve's tech, the companies said. Uber has also offered rides in vehicles operated by Waymo, the Google self-driving spinoff, as part of a commercial tie-up.

Persons: Uber, Alex Kendall, Wayve's, Dara Khosrowshahi, Khosrowshahi, Cruise, Waymo Organizations: Uber, Nvidia, Microsoft, Automotive, SAE International, Aurora Technologies, General Motors, Waymo, Google, Lyft Locations: British, ., Aurora

☆ Revolut secures new $45 billion valuation following secondary share sale with major investors as it targets a potential IPO
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-16 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewRevolut has secured a $45 million valuation via a secondary share sale, despite a wider slump in fintech valuations. The London-based neo-bank, which recently secured a banking license in the UK, has signed agreements with institutional investors over a share sale that significantly boosts the company's valuation. That round came at the height of the tech market's COVID-19 boom, and Revolut has not raised primary capital from investors since. This secondary deal allows employees to profit from their stakes in the company and also cements the fintech as Europe's most valuable tech startup ahead of a prospective IPO. Revolut has 45 million customers and offers bank accounts, savings options, and trading in stocks and cryptocurrencies.

Persons: —, Revolut, We're, Nik Storonsky, SoftBank, Matt Cooper, Revulot, Cooper, Starling Organizations: Service, D1 Capital Partners, Tiger, Business, Prudential, Authority, Financial Times Locations: London, Europe

☆ Intel sells stake in UK chip designer Arm amid company-wide restructuring and cost cuts
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Intel has sold its 1.18 million share stake in British chip firm Arm Holdings, according to a regulatory filing, as the California chip designer shores up its balance sheet amid intense competition. The sale, disclosed on Tuesday, likely raised Intel nearly $147 million, based on Arm's average stock price between April and June. Intel had cash and cash equivalents of $11.3 billion, and liabilities of about $32 billion at the end of June, according to its latest financials. Intel and Arm declined to comment on the sale when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday. Japan's SoftBank Group has a majority stake in Arm, and has been a beneficiary of the jump in the company's shares.

Persons: Pat Gelsinger, Gelsinger, Japan's Organizations: Intel, Arm Holdings, AMD, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Samsung, CNBC, Wednesday, Japan's SoftBank Locations: Santa Clara , California, California, South

☆ SoftBank-backed Indian EV startup Ola Electric pops 20% on debut valuing firm at $4.8 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bhavish Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ola Cabs and founder of Ola Electric speaks during a press conference ahead of the Initial Public Offer (IPO). Shares of Ola Electric surged 20% in their market debut Friday, valuing the Indian electric vehicle startup at around $4.8 billion. Ola Electric makes electric scooters and only shipped its first product 2½ years ago. This is the trend Ola Electric is trying to tap into as it prepares to deliver its first electric motorbike product in the second half of 2025. Ola Electric has some high-profile investors including SoftBank and Singapore's investment fund Temasek.

Persons: Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola, Ola Electric Organizations: Ola, Reuters, McKinsey & Co, Temasek Locations: Mumbai, India

On Thursday, investors in Asia will assess trade data from Japan and interest rate decision from the Reserve Bank of India. Global equities and currencies plunged earlier this week after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to their highest levels since 2008, and the U.S. released weaker-than-expected employment numbers. Asia-Pacific markets were mostly down in choppy trading on Thursday after U.S. stock benchmarks fell overnight, while investors assessed trade data from Japan and awaited India's rate decision. "Assuming that the price stability target will be achieved in the second half of fiscal 2025, the Bank should raise the policy interest rate to the level of the neutral interest rate toward that time," the summary read. Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group said in a statement on Wednesday that it would buy back up to 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion) of its shares as part of its efforts to boost shareholder returns.

Persons: Shinichi Uchida, Lasertec, Korea's Kospi Organizations: Reuters, The Reserve Bank of, Reserve Bank of India, Global, Bank of Japan, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Nvidia, Nikkei, Bank, SoftBank, Semiconductor, Isuzu Motors, China's CSI, Cathay, Hong Kong's, Airbus Locations: The Reserve Bank of India, Asia, Japan, U.S, Pacific, Hong, Cathay Pacific

☆ Middle East wealth funds are scrambling to rescue their big bets on the future
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Go to newsletter preferencesSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. A particular focus for these funds built on the back of petrodollars has been to build ownership and influence in the tech sector. FETHI BELAIDOver the past week, PIF and Mubadala have been busy figuring out what to do when their unbridled ambitions for tech companies face reality. Reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg have shone a light on efforts being made by the sovereign wealth fund to boost returns in European startups in which it has invested billions of dollars. AdvertisementSeveral of these nascent tech companies, such as the insurance firm WeFox, have been bruised by shifting sentiment in the markets in recent years.

Persons: —, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, SoftBank's, ByteDance, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Peter Rawlinson, Lucid, John Keeble, Rawlinson, PIF, it's, Mubadala Organizations: Service, Saudi, Public Investment Fund, Business, PIF, Financial Times, Bloomberg Locations: Middle, petrodollars, Saudi, California

☆ SoftBank swings back to gains at Vision Fund tech arm, announces up to $3.4 billion share buyback
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-07 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SoftBank Group booked a 1.9 billion yen ($12.9 million) investment gain on its Vision Fund tech investment arm in the company's fiscal first quarter ended in June, swinging back into the black. However, the Vision Fund segment as a whole posted a 204.3 billion yen loss, after being in profit in the same quarter last year. The Japanese giant also announced it would buy back up to 6.8% of shares available in the company amounting to up to 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion). In the year ago quarter, SoftBank posted 159.77 billion yen gain in its Vision Fund. In the March quarter, SoftBank posted a loss of 57.53 billion yen in its flagship tech investment arm.

Persons: ByteDance —, SoftBank Organizations: SoftBank, Corp, Vision Fund, Vision, Bank of Japan Locations: Tokyo, Japan

Asia-Pacific markets extended gains on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street benchmarks that snapped a three-day losing streak overnight. It further sold 3.87 trillion yen worth of dollars on May 1, ministry data showed. Customs data showed on Wednesday that China's imports in July grew faster-than-expected, while export growth missed forecasts. Exports in U.S. dollar terms rose by 7% for the month compared to a year ago, missing economists' expectations for a 9.7% increase. Meanwhile, U.S. dollar-denominated imports rose by 7.2%, far more than the economist's forecast of 3.5%.

Persons: Canon, Shinichi Uchida Organizations: Nikkei, Mitsui, SoftBank, Bank of Japan, Bank, Japan's Ministry of Finance, China's CSI, . Locations: Qingdao Port, Shandong province, Qingdao, China, Asia, Pacific

Japan stocks rebounded sharply on Tuesday after the Nikkei 225 and the Topix dropped over 12% in the previous session. The Bank of Japan raising rates to their highest level since 2008 on July 30 caused the yen to strengthen to a seven-month high, pressurizing stocks. Markets globally were also spooked by fears of a U.S. recession stoked by a weaker-than-expected jobs report. Real wages in Japan also grew 1.1% in June compared with a year ago, the first time that wages have risen in 26 months. Strong wage growth offers more room for the Bank of Japan to tighten its monetary policy.

Persons: Topix, Korea’s Kospi, Hong, Australia’s, Brent, Dow Organizations: Nikkei, Bank of, Softbank Group Corp, U.S ., South Korean, Samsung Electronics, chipmaker SK Hynix, China’s CSI, . West Texas, Bank of Japan, Reserve Bank of Australia, Dow, Nasdaq Locations: Japan, Asia, Pacific, Bank of Japan, U.S

Search resuls for: "SoftBank"

25 mentions found