SoftBank Plans "Roze": A $100 Billion AI-Robotics Spinout, US IPO This Year

Japan's SoftBank Group is preparing to create and list a standalone AI and robotics company in the US, according to Financial Times reporting confirmed by CNBC and DealStreet Asia. The new entity is named Roze, and SoftBank executives are targeting a valuation of about $100 billion and an IPO as early as 2026.

Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is driving the project. The plan is ambitious enough that the FT note flagged "uncertainties stemming from the conflict in the Middle East" as the main execution risk.

What goes into Roze

Roze is meant to bundle three buckets of SoftBank assets and pitch them as one operating story.

ABB Robotics, the Swiss-Swedish industrial robotics business that SoftBank agreed to buy from ABB last year. ABB Robotics is one of the world's largest suppliers of industrial robotics and machine automation.

Existing land, energy, and infrastructure assets from SoftBank's portfolio, the kind of inputs needed to build large-scale data centers fast.

Integration with SoftBank's broader AI hardware and software stack. The pitch is that Roze can build AI infrastructure faster and at lower cost by using robotics on the construction side.

Why Son needs the listing

SoftBank has made very large AI commitments. The firm has pledged more than $30 billion to OpenAI alone. SoftBank is also the lead financier of Stargate, a planned $500 billion US AI data center build-out announced jointly with OpenAI, Oracle, and others. The conglomerate is already constructing its own large-scale data center in Ohio.

A $100 billion IPO of Roze, even at half the targeted valuation, would generate the float Son needs to keep funding those commitments without leaning entirely on Vision Fund returns.

Vision Fund posted a $2.4 billion gain in the December quarter, helped by markup on the OpenAI position. SoftBank shares are up over 18% in 2026 and gave back 0.9% on Thursday after the FT report.

The market context

OpenAI itself is preparing for a potential IPO that bankers have penciled in at a $1 trillion valuation. If Roze prices anywhere near $100 billion, the spinout would arrive as the largest pure-play AI infrastructure listing in the US, ahead of CoreWeave and any of the smaller hyperscaler enablers.

The combination Son is selling is not just "AI infrastructure." It is "AI infrastructure built by robots." If the Roze story holds up to S-1 scrutiny later this year, that frame will reset how the next layer of AI infra companies position themselves.

Sources: CNBC, DealStreet Asia, Financial Times