SoftBank Group Shares Rise as Japan Election Fuels AI Optimism

By Kosaku Narioka

SoftBank Group shares rose sharply after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's election victory raised expectations of increased government spending in the artificial-intelligence sector, pushing the benchmark stock index to a record high.

Shares of Softbank were recently up 10% at 4,690 yen, equivalent to $30.12, in Tokyo trading Tuesday, following a 6.3% gain on Monday.

Takaichi's historic win on Sunday has fueled expectations that she will ramp up strategic investment in key industries such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors to drive long-term economic growth.

The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 3.9% on Monday to an all-time high and was recently up 2.2% on Tuesday, supported in part by gains in semiconductor stocks.

Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities, said investors may be buying SoftBank Group shares, which had lagged other heavyweight components of the benchmark index.

SoftBank Group shares have been pressured in recent months by concerns about competitiveness of its key investment, OpenAI, as rivals such as Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini have improved their capabilities.

SoftBank is one of OpenAI's largest shareholders, holding an 11% stake as of December. Those concerns may be easing for now.

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told employees on Friday that ChatGPT is "back to exceeding 10% monthly growth," CNBC reported Monday, citing an internal message. OpenAI also said Monday that it has begun testing advertisements in ChatGPT in the U.S.

Matsumoto said that if ChatGPT is regaining momentum due to the measures OpenAI has been taking, that would be positive for SoftBank Group shares.

News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2026 00:20 ET (05:20 GMT)