SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest as much as $25 billion into OpenAI in a deal that would make it the artificial intelligence firm’s largest backer.

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son has made a strategic pivot toward the US market, appearing alongside President Donald Trump twice since his November election victory to unveil major investment plans.

Investors will be looking out for Malaysia’s central bank policy meeting today, where it’s expected to keep its policy rate steady at 3%.

Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday, supported by positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Gains are led by China, where multiple government departments unveiled medium- and long-term investment plans to boost capital market confidence.

Asian shares are mixed after China rolled out more moves to boost its lagging stock markets. Hong Kong and Shanghai rose but then shed some of their initial gains early Thursday. Officials in Beijing said pension funds and mutual funds would be required to increase purchases of shares,

CNBC's Alex Harring and Brian Evans contributed to this report. Softbank Group shares climb over 8% after U.S. AI infrastructure investment plans Shares of Softbank Group rose 8.6% after U.S ...

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Thursday after China rolled out more moves to try to boost its lagging stock markets by raising confidence that prices will rise. Germany's DAX gained 0.2% to 21,300 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.1% higher to 7,847.38. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped less than 0.1% to 8,539.88.

Chinese artificial intelligence startup company DeepSeek stunned markets and AI experts with its claim that it built its immensely popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by American tech titans.

Net bookings were driven by demand for ASML's most-advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, machines, for which €3 billion of orders were placed in the period

ASML Holding NV surged the most since 2020 after booking orders worth twice as much as analysts expected, as the artificial intelligence boom fuels demand for its chipmaking machines.

SoftBank Group is currently in discussions to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, which could position it as the AI startup's largest financial backer

SoftBank is in talks to inject up to $25 billion directly into OpenAI, positioning the Japanese tech conglomerate to become the ChatGPT maker's largest financial backer, according to initial reporting from the Financial Times on Wednesday evening.