🖼 SoftBank's $1 Trillion Plan to Replicate Shenzhen: Masayoshi Son Aims to Build a Robot Industry Cluster in the US

Replicating Shenzhen with $1 Trillion: Masayoshi Son Plans to Build a Robot Industry Cluster in the US

According to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank, is planning to build an industrial complex in Arizona, USA, with a total investment of up to $1 trillion, focusing on the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence.

The report said that Son hopes to cooperate with TSMC to promote this project, aiming to bring high-end technology manufacturing back to the US and replicate the large-scale manufacturing cluster model of Shenzhen, China, locally.

SoftBank has already communicated with US federal and state government officials to discuss incentive measures such as tax breaks for companies building factories or investing in the park, including holding talks with Howard Lutnick, the US Secretary of Commerce, and others.

The report said that SoftBank is eager for TSMC to participate in this project codenamed "Project Crystal Land", but it is currently unclear in what capacity TSMC will participate and whether it has the intention to cooperate.

TSMC has currently built chip manufacturing plants in the US with a planned investment of $165 billion.

The report said that Son is also in contact with several technology companies, including Samsung Electronics, seeking cooperation intentions.

The project is still in the preliminary planning stage, and its implementation depends on the support of the Trump administration and state officials. If it is finally implemented, the $1 trillion investment will be twice that of the "Stargate" project (aiming to expand the capacity of US data centers, jointly funded by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, etc., with a total of $500 billion).

Both SoftBank and TSMC declined to comment. The White House and the US Department of Commerce have not yet responded to requests for comment.

Before the release of this plan, SoftBank has announced large-scale investments several times this year.

In March this year, SoftBank announced that it would acquire Ampere, a US semiconductor design company, for $6.5 billion; in April, it said it would provide up to $40 billion in new investment support for OpenAI, with up to $10 billion to be introduced from other investors.

This week, SoftBank also raised $4.8 billion by selling shares in T-Mobile.

via cnBeta.COM - Chinese Industry Information Station (author: Source: NetEase Technology)