SoftBank logs 7 billion loss after U.S. data center costs swell

SoftBank logs $7 billion loss after U.S. data center costs swell SoftBank is increasingly seen as a proxy for sentiment toward OpenAI and the broader AI sector. Its shares have plunged more than 50% from their record high in June. SoftBank Group reported Tuesday its first net loss in almost two years after swallowing a $3.7 billion writedown over a U.S. data-center project amid rising fears around the sustainability of AI growth. The Tokyo-based backer of OpenAI tumbled to a ¥1.12 trillion ($7.1 billion) loss in its fiscal second quarter around nonrefundable advance payments made to secure equipment and manufacturing capacity for its Ohio data-center campus. Analysts on average expected a profit of ¥129 billion. Declines in the stock prices of chipmakers Arm Holdings and Intel, as well as South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, further dragged down SoftBank's bottom line.