STOCKS | AI Demand Drives SoftBank to Surpass Toyota in Market Value

AI demand has propelled Japan's stock market to record highs, with SoftBank surpassing Toyota as the largest company by market value in Japan. According to Jin10, SoftBank's significant exposure to OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and its broader ambitions in the AI sector have positioned it as a key player in the current investment frenzy sweeping the Japanese market. SoftBank's stock has surged nearly 73% this year, reaching a new all-time high with an over 8% increase on Monday. This follows the company's commitment to invest up to 75 billion euros in France to build a vast AI computing cluster network. SoftBank's market value now exceeds 46 trillion yen (approximately $288 billion). In contrast, Toyota's market value, which was slightly above 48 trillion yen at last Friday's close, fell nearly 4.5% on Monday, dropping below 46 trillion yen. The automaker had surpassed telecom group NTT Docomo in 2003 to become Japan's largest company by market value.