SoftBank vision fund mulls 20% job cuts after Masayoshi Son’s pivot to AI

SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund is considering cutting as much as 20% of its staff, a person familiar with the matter said, underscoring a shift in Masayoshi Son’s focus to ambitious bets on artificial intelligence.

The unit, which employed about 282 people as of the end of March, may shed more than 50 roles, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

The reduction extends years of cutbacks as the Vision Fund unit shrank in importance next to Son’s growing appetite for big AI bets. Those include a plan to invest about $30 billion in OpenAI and a $6.5 billion deal to acquire chip designer Ampere Computing, which faces regulatory scrutiny. SoftBank has so far invested roughly $10 billion in OpenAI.

The Japanese firm has also partnered with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. for the roll-out of a $500 billion Stargate initiative to build AI data centres and other infrastructure across the US. And Son is working on another $1 trillion project to create an AI industrial park and is seeking a partnership from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Vision Fund spokesperson confirmed job cuts in the offing, without elaborating.

“We continually adjust the organisation to execute best our long-term strategy—making bold, high-conviction investments in AI and breakthrough technologies,” the spokesperson said in an email. Reuters first reported the staff reduction.

SoftBank’s Vision Fund has been selling down key assets as it works to secure funding for sizable AI investments.

With the company zeroing in on a handful of sizable investment deals, the Vision Fund no longer needs an army of investment advisers to oversee fresh or existing deals.

The $100 billion-plus Vision Fund, launched in 2017, employed as many as 474 people at its peak in the year ended March 2020, according to SoftBank’s annual securities report. The unit’s workforce has shrunk by about 40% since.

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