In a major strategic shift, Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group has sold its entire stake in American chipmaker Nvidia Corp. for $5.83 billion, the company announced on Tuesday. SoftBank stated that the proceeds from the sale will be redirected toward other investments.

The move underscores SoftBank's pivot towards artificial intelligence (AI), particularly focusing on ventures like OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT chatbot.

Cashing Out on an AI Giant

SoftBank Group Corp. confirmed it sold all its remaining Nvidia shares in October. The sale comes as Nvidia's stock has skyrocketed, recently making it the world's first company to reach a $5 trillion market valuation. This surge provided SoftBank with a significant return on its investment.

The divestment reflects a strategic realignment under CEO Masayoshi Son, who is now channeling capital directly into the AI ecosystem.

H1 Profit Nearly Triples

The announcement coincided with SoftBank's earnings report for the first half of the current fiscal year (April-September). The company reported a staggering net profit of nearly $13 billion, almost triple the figure from the same period last year.

This financial performance was bolstered by a 7.7% year-on-year increase in sales, which reached 3.7 trillion yen ($24 billion).

Pivoting to OpenAI and "Stargate"

According to reports, SoftBank's exit from Nvidia signals its intensified focus on OpenAI. The conglomerate has already invested billions of dollars into OpenAI, and the two companies plan to collaborate on providing AI services in Japan.

This strategic shift was further highlighted earlier this year when SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, alongside former US President Donald Trump, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Oracle's Larry Ellison, announced plans for a massive investment of up to $500 billion in a groundbreaking AI data center project codenamed "Stargate."

As part of this ambitious venture, Nvidia is also planned to invest $100 billion to develop AI data centers with at least 10 gigawatts of capacity, aimed at expanding OpenAI's computing power.