April 9 (Reuters) – Rene Haas, the CEO of chip designer Arm, is in line to lead much of parent SoftBank’s international business while keeping his current role at Arm, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters, while Arm, which is majority-owned by the Japanese conglomerate, declined to comment. Both also declined to comment to the FT.
Haas’s appointment aims to push forward SoftBank’s AI chip strategy, Project Izanagi, launched to compete with rivals such as U.S.-based chipmaker Nvidia, according to the FT report.
Haas was expected to take a title reflecting his senior role at SoftBank Group International, but was not expected to run the company’s Vision Fund investment vehicles or its energy business, the report added.
The role at SoftBank Group International would make Haas one of the most senior people working with SoftBank’s billionaire-founder Masayoshi Son, according to the report.
The report comes as Son makes increasingly aggressive bets on artificial intelligence following years in which the group swung between outsized gains and heavy Vision Fund losses.
Son’s “all in” bet on AI includes SoftBank’s agreement to invest $30 billion in OpenAI through its Vision Fund 2. The Japanese firm held a stake of roughly 11% in OpenAI at the end of last year.
Last month, Arm unveiled a new AI data centre chip, which it said would add billions of dollars in revenue and mark a significant shift in strategy. Its shares are up more than 10% since the announcement.
(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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