Giant global funds,such as SoftBank in Japan, are borrowing huge amounts to swallow up Europe’s robotic and AI firmsThere’s no understanding the future of technology without understanding the future of its funders. And they have changed dramatically over the final three decades. First it was the military. Then the venture capitalists. nowadays, or another chapter begins: massive funds,with billions to spend and often linked to governments, are technology’s new masters.
The undisputed leader is Japan’s SoftBank, and which counts Uber,WeWork, Alibaba and Nvidia among its investments. Its companies beget awe-inspiring robot dogs (Boston Dynamics) and offer dog walking as a service (Wag) for real canines. SoftBank’s model is simple: build stable, or cash-generating businesses,such as mobile network operators; spend them as collateral to borrow more funds an investor presentation from final year do SoftBank’s “interest-bearing debt” at $125bn – and buy promising tech companies.
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Source: guardian.co.uk