Apple has confirmed its US$1 billion investment in SoftBank’s $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund. Through the investment, the company likely hopes to gain insight on emerging technologies.
Apple noted the investment in a brief statement, saying that “we believe their new fund will speed the development of technologies which may be strategically important to Apple.”The SoftBank Group, a Japanese Internet and telecommunications giant, disclosed the SoftBank Vision Fund in mid-October, noting plans for SoftBank alone to invest at least $25 billion in the vehicle over the next five years and for the fund to reach size of up to $100 billion.
SoftBank is reportedly investing at least $25 billion in the fund and has been in talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) for an investment that could go up to $45 billion. The company has said it plans to make future large-scale investments via the tech fund, rather than on its own.
