SoftBank Vision Fund To Lay Off 20% of Employees in Shift To Bold AI Bets

An anonymous reader shares a report: SoftBank Group will lay off nearly 20% of its Vision Fund team globally as it shifts resources to founder Masayoshi Son's large-scale AI bets in the United States, according to a memo seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the plan. The cuts mark the third round of layoffs at the Japanese investment conglomerate's flagship fund since 2022. Vision Fund currently has over 300 employees globally. Unlike previous rounds, when the group was saddled with major losses, the latest reductions come after the fund last month reported its strongest quarterly performance since June 2021, driven by gains in public holdings such as Nvidia and South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang. The move signals a pivot away from a broad portfolio of startup investments. While the fund will continue to make new bets, remaining staff will dedicate more resources to Son's ambitious AI initiatives, such as the proposed $500 billion Stargate project -- an initiative to build a vast network of U.S. data centers in partnership with OpenAI, the source added.

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