SoftBank has injected $450 million into this British AI chip company

Softbank has injected more than $450 million into a chip company, CNBC has learned, as the Japanese investment giant looks to continue its major play in AI infrastructure and hardware . Graphcore, which is developing AI chips and systems and was acquired by the Japanese giant in 2024, issued a single share at the value of $457 million on April 10, according to a Companies House filing. A Graphcore spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the money was funding from SoftBank. SoftBank has been approached for comment. At the time of the acquisition, SoftBank said U.K.-based Graphcore would collaborate with the company on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) — when AI matches or surpasses human intelligence. The fresh funds would be a "portion" of the money Graphcore is expecting from SoftBank this year, a person familiar with arrangements between the companies told CNBC, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to discuss private details. AI has been a huge area of investment for SoftBank in recent years, as it funneled tens of billions of dollars into the sector, including a big stake in OpenAI and infrastructure commitments. Once touted as a rival to Nvidia , Graphcore raised hundreds of millions of dollars but struggled to gain commercial traction before it was acquired by SoftBank. …