Masa Son Promises $100 Billion for AI and 100,000 Jobs in New U.S. Pledge

Masayoshi Son, the billionaire CEO of SoftBank, announced a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a visit with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The funds, aimed at artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, come with a promise of 100,000 new jobs by the end of Trump’s term, according to sources familiar with the matter.

If the numbers sound massive, that’s because Masa Son loves playing big. This isn’t the first time he’s made a headline-grabbing pledge. After Trump’s 2016 election, Son promised to invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs, a claim Trump was quick to tie to his election victory. By 2019, SoftBank said it had poured $47 billion into the U.S., though Trump had inflated that number to $72 billion during a Foxconn event in 2018.

As with all things Masa Son, the details matter. While the new $100 billion pledge could draw on existing capital from SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Arm Holdings, or its $1.5 billion OpenAI investment, the real impact will depend on how the funds are allocated. Son has a track record of high-profile investments, but not all have panned out. Nearly half of SoftBank’s earlier U.S. investments went to WeWork, whose spectacular fall from a $47 billion valuation to bankruptcy remains a cautionary tale.

This latest pledge shows that Son hasn’t lost his appetite for bold bets. But with WeWork fresh out of bankruptcy, SoftBank’s ability to deliver on its grand promises is under more scrutiny than ever. Whether the AI boom can make this pledge a reality, or just another overhyped headline, remains to be seen.