SoftBank Is Reportedly Building a $100 Billion AI Robotics Giant for a U.S. IPO

By Lidia Yadlos

Masayoshi Son is making another massive AI bet. According to new reporting from the Financial Times and Reuters, SoftBank Group is preparing to launch a new artificial intelligence and robotics company called “Roze” — with plans for a potential U.S. IPO that could reportedly target a valuation as high as $100 billion.

The company would focus on the increasingly important intersection of AI infrastructure, robotics, automation, and data center construction — sectors rapidly becoming critical to the next phase of the global AI race.

SoftBank’s Next Big AI Push

The reported initiative reflects a broader shift happening across the tech industry.

For the last two years, investors have focused heavily on AI software — chatbots, copilots, foundation models, and generative AI platforms.

Now attention is rapidly moving toward the physical infrastructure powering AI itself.

That includes:

• Data centers

• Energy systems

• AI chips

• Robotics

• Automation

• Cooling infrastructure

• Industrial AI operations

Roze appears designed to sit directly in the middle of that transition.

According to reporting, the company may automate parts of the data center buildout process itself using robotics and AI-driven infrastructure management.

The company could reportedly go public as early as late 2026.

Masayoshi Son’s “Physical AI” Vision

For years, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has argued that artificial intelligence would eventually move beyond software and become embedded into real-world systems.

He calls the idea “physical AI.” That vision includes robotics operating warehouses, factories, infrastructure projects, logistics systems, and eventually entire industrial environments.

The Roze initiative appears to be a major attempt to consolidate those ambitions into a single public company.

The timing is notable.

SoftBank has recently expanded aggressively across AI infrastructure:

• Billions invested into OpenAI

• Participation in the Stargate AI infrastructure initiative in the United States

• Investments tied to digital infrastructure and energy projects

• The reported acquisition of ABB’s robotics business

• Growing exposure to AI hardware and compute infrastructure

Reuters previously reported that SoftBank agreed to acquire ABB’s robotics division in a $5.4 billion deal, significantly expanding its industrial robotics footprint.

At the same time, SoftBank has also explored major investments in AI robotics firms including Skild AI, according to additional Reuters reporting.

Why Investors Are Suddenly Obsessed With AI Infrastructure

The AI market is evolving fast.

The first wave of excitement centered around applications like ChatGPT and image generation.

Now Wall Street is increasingly focused on what powers those systems underneath.

Training advanced AI models requires enormous amounts of:

• Electricity

• Compute power

• GPUs

• Real estate

• Cooling systems

• Fiber connectivity

• Physical infrastructure

That’s creating a new AI economy built around the industrial backbone supporting artificial intelligence itself.

SoftBank appears to believe robotics will become a major part of solving that problem.

Rather than simply funding AI models, Roze could potentially automate the physical deployment of the infrastructure required to run them at scale.

A Potential $100 Billion IPO

The reported valuation target immediately grabbed attention across markets.

A $100 billion IPO would make Roze one of the largest technology listings in recent years and potentially one of the biggest AI infrastructure companies in the world before even going public. SoftBank has not officially confirmed the plans.

But according to multiple reports, executives are already preparing the business internally while evaluating how to package infrastructure, robotics, and AI assets into a single public vehicle.

The IPO could also help SoftBank unlock liquidity as it continues pouring capital into increasingly expensive AI projects globally.

That matters because the company remains deeply tied to some of the world’s largest AI infrastructure initiatives, including OpenAI-related expansion efforts that may ultimately require hundreds of billions in long-term spending.

The Bigger Picture

What makes the Roze story interesting isn’t just the IPO. It’s what it signals about where the AI industry is heading next.

The market is beginning to realize that AI isn’t only a software revolution. It’s also becoming an infrastructure revolution.

And companies controlling the physical systems powering artificial intelligence — robotics, compute, energy, automation, and data centers — may ultimately become just as important as the AI models themselves.

Published on Blockster

SoftBank Is Reportedly Building a $100 Billion AI Robotics Giant for a U.S. IPO