-Softbank's Masayoshi Son
Last seen in September's "You Understand Why Mr. Son and SoftBank Are Circling Uber, Right?"
And the headline story from TheStreet, Jan. 8:
Masayoshi Son isn't giving a keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but SoftBank's presence will be evident throughout the tech blowout.
Softbank Corp. (SFTBY) strikes again.
The pact between Nvidia and Uber Technologies Inc. announced on Sunday at the Consumer Electronics Show brings together the brains behind self-driving cars with a leading ride-sharing company that has been experimenting with A.I. for years. But it also connects two companies in Softbank's sprawling global portfolio of technology investments, particularly ones focused on automotive technology and AI.
Softbank founder, CEO and chairman Masayoshi Son may not be speaking at CES in Las Vegas this week. However, the influence of his company and its nearly $100 billion Softbank Vision Fund (SVF) will be on display throughout the annual consumer and tech blowout.
Updated from Jan. 7 with information about the Nvidia-Uber partnership.
In addition to Nvidia and Uber, Softbank and SVF portfolio companies attending CES include wireless carrier Sprint Corp., chipmaker Arm Holdings plc and niche autonomous car technology makers such as Nauto Inc. Son's global tech investments are disparate, but artificial intelligence, car technology and wireless networking are common themes.
Nvidia Founder and CEO Jensen Huang is an evangelist for robo-taxis and self-driving cars, as the partnership with Uber demonstrates. Huang touted the company's new Drive AI auto-tech platform at a Sunday evening press event leading into CES.
Meanwhile, Sprint will tag team with Softbank Robitics at the conference. The wireless carrier and the robotics company will display Pepper, a humanoid robot that Sprint will put in its retail stores to help customers buy smart phones. CES attendees won't see the frightening animalistic robots from Boston Dynamics, which Softbank agreed to buy from Alphabet Inc. in June.
Softbank holds an 84.1% stake in Sprint, and Son has said that the carrier is an important hub in its portfolio. For instance, Sprint could develop services using the Internet of things chips made by ARM Holdings plc, another Softbank portfolio company in attendance at CES.
ARM develops chips for wireless phones, IoT devices, smart cars and other uses. Softbank bought the company for $31 billion in 2016, and shifted a 25% stake to the Softbank Vision Fund earlier this year.
Other Softbank-backed companies at CES include Nauto Inc. Over the Summer, Softbank led a $159 million investment in the Palo Alto, Calif, company that develops vehicle cameras and A.I. technology for cars....MUCH MORE
