Arm CEO Rene Haas may take larger role in SoftBank AI business

In short: SoftBank is considering giving Arm CEO Rene Haas a bigger job overseeing parts of SoftBank’s international AI and chip business, in addition to running Arm.

What happened

SoftBank Group is looking at appointing Rene Haas, the chief executive of UK chip designer Arm, to a broader leadership role inside SoftBank, according to the Financial Times and people familiar with the plans.

The proposed role would put Haas in charge of parts of SoftBank’s international operations tied to semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and possibly robotics. Semiconductors are computer chips, the small parts that act like the “brains” inside phones, laptops, and data centers (warehouses of computers).

The goal is to help move forward SoftBank’s “Project Izanagi,” which is its plan to build and sell AI-focused chips that could compete with established rivals like Nvidia. The people cited by the FT said the change still needs approval from SoftBank’s and Arm’s boards, and it could still change.

Haas would not be expected to run SoftBank’s Vision Fund investment groups or its energy business, the report said. SoftBank’s founder, Masayoshi Son, has been pushing the company to play a larger role in AI through chip design, data centers, and robotics, and it has invested heavily in OpenAI.

Arm is about 90 percent owned by SoftBank and went public in 2023. Arm has also started building its own AI processor, which marks a shift from mostly selling chip designs to other companies.

Why it matters

This is another sign that the biggest AI players think chips, not just software, will decide who leads. Better chips can make AI systems faster and cheaper to run, which can affect everything from phones and apps to the cost of online services.

Source: Financial Times