SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son is seeking to partner with Taijidian to realize his biggest bet yet - building a $1 trillion industrial park in Arizona to manufacture robots and artificial intelligence (AI), according to people familiar with the matter.
Masayoshi Son envisions building a massive manufacturing center in the United States to bring high-tech manufacturing back to the United States. The park may include production lines for making AI-driven industrial robots. The people familiar with the matter requested anonymity because the plans have not been made public.
SoftBank executives want Taijidian to play a major role in the project, but it is unclear what role Masayoshi Son wants Taijidian to play in it. Taijidian has planned to invest $165 billion in the United States and has started mass production at its first factory in Arizona. In addition, it is unclear whether Taijidian is interested. A person familiar with Taijidian’s thinking said SoftBank’s project is unrelated to Taijidian’s plans in Phoenix.
The Arizona project, code-named Project Crystal Land, is the most ambitious endeavor of the 67-year-old Masayoshi Son’s career, which has seen numerous desperate investments that have paid off thousands of times and lost billions of dollars. Masayoshi Son has often expressed dissatisfaction with his past achievements and has repeatedly said he intends to do everything he can to accelerate the development of AI.
SoftBank executives have communicated with federal and state officials to discuss possible tax incentives for companies that build factories or make other investments in the industrial park, and have also held talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick, the people said.
The Japanese billionaire is also personally approaching many technology companies to explore their interest in the project, they said. The project has been introduced to executives at South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the people said.