SoftBank Vision Fund To Lay Off 20% of Employees in Shift To Bold AI Bets (reuters.com) 21
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.
60 people then. AI - so what? (Score:5, Funny)
I have no idea what investment houses do? It my mind its roll dice, place bets and do some coke in the loo before looking up tonight's hookers.
What were these people doing in this AI job replacement hype story?
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Digging for insider info, like all of them ought to do?
Re:60 people then. AI - so what? (Score:4)
I have no idea what investment houses do?
They do what is basically the core of capitalism: Trying to make as much money as possible with the work of other people.
All eggs in one basket! (Score:5, Funny)
No obvious ways this AI thing will fail. None at all, and the "AGI" is just behind the corner, with a promise of eternal slavery for most and eternal life for Masayoshi.
Re: All eggs in one basket! (Score:2)
Re:All eggs in one basket! (Score:4, Funny)
At this point Masayoshi seems to be the anti-Midas. Everything he touches turns to shit. Every time he invests in something, it's a warning to get out of it while you can.
Now excuse me, I'm off to sell my AI investments.
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Agree - pre-rcession layoffs.. (Score:4, Interesting)
I agree these are pre-recession layoffs...
AI is a great cover...
The problem is if enough companies do "pre-recession" layoffs we will have even deeper actual recession...
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No worries, they'll get Alan Greenspan out of the coffin for some more of that wonderful quant easing.
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Re: All eggs in one basket! (Score:2)
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Better of the weak jokes on the story, but don't see much potential for humor.
However I have a couple of personal anecdotes and the first can be fit into your Subject if the "basket" is a building. The building in question is on prime real estate close to Shibuya Station, which is a kind of "King Youth" neighborhood. I visited the building a number of times as construction was being completed and before the security was tightened against such tourists. I think I even met Masayoshi's brother, who was suppose
What's Bedrock Obama's Opinion? (Score:1)
What were the (Score:1)
..."non bold" bets before this? HyperboleGPT?
It's the Trump recession (Score:1)
We had just barely recovered from the damage done from the first term of Donald Trump. Literally the only time in history when things have been this bad is the Great depression and Trump's first term.
Creating a national sales tax while withholding tens of billions of congressionally approved funds and all the chaos that goes with that right after biden's soft landing was guaranteed
Don't call it Trump recession! (Score:2)
Or they will find a way to hit you...
Safer to call them AI layoffs...
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Tariffs are worse than a national sales tax. Sales tax is paid directly by the consumer at the time of purchase. Tariffs are paid immediately by the importer for all units, regardless of whether or not they can be sold. So it increases the immediate expenses of the company importing the goods, reducing their liquidity, and then they may never recover those costs since, unlike corporate taxes, the expense is paid regardless of whether or not the item is ever sold.
It is his surname (Score:2)
It actually is his surname. His grandfather was a Korean with the surname Son who emigrated to Japan during the Japanese colonial period. The family adopted the Japanese surname Yasumoto in an effort to avoid discrimination. Masayoshi Son reverted to using his Korean surname Son when he returned to Japan after studying in the USA.
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