SoftBank announced the sale of all Nvidia shares for a total amount of US$5.83 billion, aiming to provide financial support for its "full bet" on OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

SoftBank said in its financial report that the company sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October. In addition, SoftBank also disclosed that it sold some of its shares in T-Mobile and obtained US$9.17 billion in funds. This isn't the first time SoftBank has cashed in on its investment in chipmaker Nvidia. Despite selling its Nvidia stake, SoftBank remains tied to Nvidia through other AI investments.

SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said at the investor conference: "We want to provide investors with more investment opportunities while remaining financially strong." He added that the sale of these shares is part of the company's "asset monetization" strategy, and through these operations, SoftBank ensures that funds can be prepared in a safe manner.

Although SoftBank sold Nvidia shares and Nvidia's stock fell 2% on the day, the sale was not related to concerns about the valuation of artificial intelligence. According to people familiar with the matter, SoftBank’s move is to support its $22.5 billion investment in OpenAI. People familiar with the matter also mentioned that the funds will also be used for SoftBank’s investment in other projects, such as the acquisition of ABB’s robotics business.

The sale is not the first time SoftBank has cashed in profits from Nvidia. In 2017, SoftBank Vision Fund became an early investor in Nvidia, spending US$4 billion to purchase shares, and then liquidated and sold them in January 2019. Despite the sale, SoftBank's business remains closely tied to Nvidia, including its $500 billion "Stargate" project in the construction of U.S. data centers that relies on Nvidia technology.

Rolf Bulk, an equity analyst at New Street Research, said that SoftBank’s sale of Nvidia shares should not be interpreted as a negative stance on Nvidia, but part of the $3.05 billion SoftBank needs to invest in the October-December quarter of 2023, including $22.5 billion in OpenAI and $6.5 billion in Ampere.

At the same time, SoftBank Vision Fund’s huge gains of US$1.9 billion also helped the company double its profits in the second quarter of its fiscal year. SoftBank Vision Fund has actively entered the field of artificial intelligence, investing in and acquiring companies across the entire AI value chain, from chips to large language models to robotics.

SoftBank also revealed that after its $22.5 billion investment in OpenAI, SoftBank’s stake in OpenAI will increase from 4% to 11%. According to people familiar with the matter, SoftBank may further increase its investment in OpenAI based on OpenAI’s performance and the valuation of future financings, but usually SoftBank will not let it hold more than 40% of its shares to avoid becoming a controlling shareholder.

Overall, SoftBank’s strategy is clearly focused on large-scale investment in artificial intelligence, especially driven by technology giants such as OpenAI. As SoftBank continues to adjust its investment portfolio, investments in the field of artificial intelligence will likely bring more significant changes and opportunities in the next few years.