SoftBank plans to invest in Indian data centres, industrial robotics as part of AI play 

Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank is weighing investments in Indian data centre and industrial robotics firms, as it looks to step up bets on the infrastructure layer of artificial intelligence (AI).

SoftBank is evaluating deals in these sectors and may invest $75 million to $150 million per deal once discussions fructify, according to sources.

“SoftBank is looking at AI use cases with large market opportunities. They are chasing two themes in India currently — data centres and industrial robotics,” confirmed a person close to the developments.

While no specifics were available on the possible investments, one of the sources said that these could be greenfield data centre businesses of a large corporation or a manufacturing unit that leverages automation and AI.

Queries sent to SoftBank did not elicit any response till the time of publishing.

As of end March 2024, SoftBank has committed $5-billion investments focused on high-growth industries such as logistics, robotics and autonomous driving. Recent investments include Green Box, a joint venture with robotics company Symbotic which opened its first automated warehouse in California, and a billion-dollar-plus funding round in Wayve, an autonomous driving company.

SoftBank’s India AI play ties in with its global shift to AI and chips, even as the mega investor has increased the pace of exiting its Vision Fund holdings in areas like e-commerce and fintech.

While the conglomerate made investments and commitments of around $9 billion in AI-related companies in FY24, it sold holdings worth $22 billion during the period.

After playing ‘defence’ for some time by slowing its speed of making fresh bets, SoftBank said mid-last year that it is looking to take a more active investing role again, particularly by focusing on AI.

In October 2023, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said that he believes artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is 10 times the sum total of all human intelligence, will be built in the next 10 years.

Speaking at a company event, Son had also introduced the idea of Artificial Super Intelligence which, he claimed, would be 10,000 times more powerful than human intelligence and be a reality in the next 20 years.

Around the same time, Moneycontrol exclusively reported that SoftBank took 20 founders and top executives of its India portfolio companies to Silicon Valley, in a bid to facilitate discussions with top AI firms.

Passage to India

SoftBank’s fresh AI-related investments would also end a hiatus of about two years in the conglomerate’s frenetic deal-making in the country. To be sure, it pumped about $11 billion into Indian startups between late-2018 and mid-2022, and has reported exits worth around $6.5 billion from those investments.

Although it is looking to double down on existing portfolio companies such as Meesho, the company’s move to scout for AI infrastructure companies here underlines a growing global sentiment of looking at India as an exporter of tech — rather than just a large market ripe for capture.

SoftBank has previously invested heavily in the consumer internet and SaaS spaces in the country. While four of its portfolio firms – Zomato, PB Fintech, Paytm, and Delhivery – are listed, it is now preparing to list the next set of companies from its portfolio, which include Firstcry, Ola Electric and Swiggy.