SoftBank reportedly weighs $100 billion valuation for new AI and robotics spinout in potential U.S. IPO

softbank is planning to spin out a new ai and robotics company called "roze" and list it in the u.s. as early as this year. the financial times reports the target valuation is around $100 billion. masayoshi son is driving the effort. roze would focus on data centers and using robotics to build ai infrastructure. it could bundle existing softbank assets including energy, land, and abb robotics, which softbank agreed to buy last year. the ipo could help offset some of softbank's major pledges, including over $30 billion committed to openai. the valuation target and timeline could shift, and some softbank executives consider the plans ambitious partly due to middle east uncertainties. softbank posted a $2.4 billion gain in its vision fund in the december quarter, helped by its openai investment. shares were down 0.9% on thursday but up over 18% this year.