AI Bets Lift SoftBank to Record Profit While Alibaba Absorbs Heavy Costs
Cover image from independent.co.uk, which was analyzed for this article
SoftBank posts huge profits from AI bets like OpenAI, boosting Vision Fund amid China-US rivalry. Alibaba sees AI cloud growth but profit plunge from costs. Tech rivalry shapes global investments.
PoliticalOS
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 — Tech
SoftBank converted early and large AI stakes into a five-fold profit increase, while Alibaba’s heavier spending produced an 84 percent drop in core profit even as its cloud revenue accelerated. The contrasting results illustrate how the same technology cycle can reward investors and pressure operators at the same time.
What outlets missed
Independent coverage omitted the precise Vision Fund quarterly breakdown and the S&P outlook revision. CNBC’s SoftBank story did not include SoftBank’s new battery venture or the Toppan aircraft-skin project. Alibaba reporting lacked any mention of SoftBank’s parallel AI exposure or the cross-border investment rivalry that frames both companies’ strategies. No outlet supplied a full reconciliation between Vision Fund gains and group-level net profit after currency and expense adjustments.
SoftBank Group posted its strongest annual result in years after gains from artificial-intelligence holdings outweighed losses elsewhere, while Alibaba Group reported sharply lower core profit after accelerating spending on the same technology.
The Tokyo-based investor recorded a net profit of 5 trillion yen, or about $32 billion, for the fiscal year ended March, nearly five times the 1.15 trillion yen earned the prior year, according to its statement. Revenue rose 8 percent to 7.8 trillion yen. The Vision Fund alone contributed a $46 billion gain, almost all of it from the rise in value of its OpenAI stake. SoftBank has already put more than $30 billion into the AI company and has committed to reach $60 billion for roughly 13 percent ownership.
Independent coverage stayed closest to the company statement with minimal interpretive layering. One CNBC article amplified the OpenAI windfall in the lead while deferring risk details. The second CNBC piece used a profit-plunge headline that contrasted with later growth figures, creating a mixed but still investment-focused tone across the three reports.
Behind the Coverage
independent.co.uk
Most biased
cnbc.com
Least biased
cnbc.com
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