Prime Highlights
- Arm CEO Rene Haas is set to lead SoftBank Group International, overseeing semiconductors, AI and possibly robotics alongside his current role.
- Haas predicted Arm’s new AI processor could drive a fivefold revenue increase for the $158 billion company over five years.
Key Facts
- Arm is a UK-based chip designer, roughly 90% owned by SoftBank, that went public in 2023.
- SoftBank’s Project Izanagi aims to build an AI chip business to compete directly with Nvidia and other established players.
Background
Arm chief executive Rene Haas is being lined up to lead a significant portion of SoftBank Group’s international operations, as founder Masayoshi Son pushes harder into artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
The new role would sit alongside Haas’s existing position at Arm and give him oversight of SoftBank’s semiconductor, AI and potentially robotics operations. The move is intended to drive forward Project Izanagi, SoftBank’s strategy to build an AI chip business capable of competing with Nvidia and other established players. However, the role is yet to receive board approval from either SoftBank or Arm and could still change.
Haas would not oversee SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment vehicles or its energy business. His expanded remit would make him one of the most senior figures in Son’s inner circle.
Son has been reshaping SoftBank around AI, channelling investment into power, robotics, data centres and chip design. Beyond Project Izanagi, the group is building Stargate, a major US data centre initiative, and is funding what is reported to be the world’s largest gas-fired power plant in Ohio, backed by Japan as part of a trade agreement.
Arm recently unveiled its own AI processor, a significant shift from its traditional model of licensing chip designs. Haas said the new chip could help grow Arm’s revenue fivefold over the next five years. While the processor puts Arm in direct competition with Intel, AMD and even some of its own customers, such as Nvidia, Google and Amazon, those companies have publicly backed the move.
Arm shares climbed last month following Haas’s financial forecasts tied to the new processor.
