SoftBank Makes Surprise $2 Billion Bet on Intel’s AI Revival (1)

SoftBank Group Corp. agreed to buy $2 billion of Intel Corp. stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions.

The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes AI linchpins Nvidia Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., will pay$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which will issue new stock to SoftBank, surged more than 5% in after-hours trading. SoftBank’s stock fell as much as 5.4% Tuesday in Tokyo, its most since April.

Masayoshi Son

Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

SoftBank, which ...