SoftBank's internet subsidiary Z Holdings said that it will invest 500 billion yen (about 4.7 billion dollars) in technology and hire 5,000 AI engineers over five years. The company will focus on artificial intelligence.
The business plan is Z Holdings' most detailed strategy yet in countering the growing threat of GAFA -- an acronym for U.S. tech giants Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple -- in Japan.
The announcement comes after the completion of the merger of its internet business Yahoo Japan with messaging app Line with messaging service owner Line Corp, creating a 30billion dollars domestic internet giant.
The merger will create a tech giant with more than 300 million users across messaging, online news and financial services. The original target of October 2020 was pushed back due to pandemic-related delays in the regulatory approval process.
Z Holdings said it is targeting sales of 2 trillion yen and operating income of 225 billion yen in three years, as the pandemic has bolstered demand for online services. Under the new structure, SoftBank unit SoftBank Corp. and South Korea's Naver each own 50% of Line -- now renamed A Holdings -- which in turn owns 65.3% of Z Holdings.
Z Holdings will remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and will own Line and Yahoo Japan, which runs a popular news site in Japan. It had a market capitalization of 5.1 trillion yen ($47.8 billion) as of Monday.
