SoftBank Group, led by Masayoshi Son, is in discussions to invest up to $40 billion in OpenAI, valuing it at $300 billion. This follows a shift in AI dynamics with DeepSeek overtaking ChatGPT in US App Store rankings,

OpenAI is in talks for an investment round to raise nearly $40 billion that would value the AI startup at up to $340 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Apple revealed quarterly results that slightly exceeded Wall Street expectations, SoftBank is in talks to invest as much as $25bn into OpenAI, and the European Central Bank cut interest rates as it warned about headwinds to the bloc’s economy.

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is shifting his focus away from investments in China and toward the US, as seen with his involvement with President Donald Trump and the recently announced Stargate.

Softbank Group Corp is in talks to invest up to US$25 billion in ChatGPT owner OpenAI, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the Japanese conglomerate continues to expand into the sector.

A small group of seven companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, have become so dominant that they alone contributed to more than half of the S&P 500’s

Shares of Japanese chip-related firms were feeling the heat on Monday. Today’s slump comes as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek gained traction with its updated AI model, raising fears about potential challenges to US technological dominance.

Investors will be looking out for Malaysia’s central bank policy meeting today, where it’s expected to keep its policy rate steady at 3%.

DeepSeek threatens to disrupt the AI sector in a similar way to how Chinese companies have already upended industries such as EVs and mining.

The partnership formed by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank is due to invest up to $500 billion. SoftBank's shares rose 3.7% on Thursday in Tokyo trading after jumping 11% the day before. Elsewhere in Asia, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.6% to 8,383.50, while the Kospi in Seoul lost 0.8% to 2,526.98.

Arm China plans to tap Chen Feng (陳鋒), a former executive at Fuzhou, Fujian Province-based chipmaker Rockchip Electronics Co (瑞芯微電子), according to people familiar with the matter. The appointment will be made after this week’s Lunar New Year holiday, they said.

Nasdaq futures slumped and technology shares slid in Japan on Monday as surging popularity of a Chinese discount artificial intelligence model wobbled investors' faith in the profitability of AI and the sector's voracious demand for high-tech chips.