SoftBank CEO and Trump announce $100 billion U.S. investment

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a Monday visit to President-elect Donald Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

The billionaire investor and founder of the Japanese tech-investing firm promised in the joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs at a minimum focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure. The money will be deployed before the end of Trump’s term.

“My confidence level to the economy of the United States has tremendously increased with his victory,” Son said. “President Trump is a double down president. I’m going to have to double down.”

SoftBank’s Son and Trump made a similar announcement in 2016 after Trump was elected president for the first time, with the Japanese firm agreeing to invest $50 billion in the U.S. with the aim to create 50,000 jobs.

“He’s doing this because he feels very optimistic about our country since the election,” Trump said. “This historic investment is a monumental demonstration confidence in America’s future, and it will help ensure that artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and other industries of tomorrow are being created and grown right here in the USA.”

The funding could come from various sources controlled by SoftBank, including the Vision Fund, capital projects or chipmaker Arm Holdings, where the firm is majority owner. Some of the money will not necessarily be newly raised, but could include some funding already announced such as SoftBank’s recent $1.5 billion investment in OpenAI, the tech firm behind chatbot ChatGPT.

The investment was first reported by CNBC’s Sara Eisen.