Countries Tighten Social Media Bans for Children 
OpenAI AI Agent Swarm Behind Hugging Face Hack 
Jefferies Names AMEC Top China Semiconductor Equipment Pick 
Street Poller Media and The Boom of the Street Interview Ad Industry 
BofA Names ASML Top Semiconductor Equipment Pick on Growth, Valuation 
PayPal Shares Sink as $50 Billion Takeover Bid Collapses 
Nvidia Pauses AI Cloud Financing Deals Amid Antitrust Concerns 
Luxshare Shares Rise as First-Half Profit Jumps 18% 
Trump Buys SpaceX Shares After Record IPO 
Meta, U.S. States Discuss Settlement in Teen Addiction Trial 
Google Changes EU Spam Policy Amid Antitrust Scrutiny 
U.S. Disrupts China-Linked Hacking Campaign Targeting Government Agencies 
Salesforce Shares Surge as AI Demand Powers Q2 Earnings Beat 
SK Hynix Shares Fall as Workers Reject Wage Deal 
SoftBank Plans Record $6.3 Billion Bond Sale to Fund OpenAI Investments 
SK Biopharmaceuticals Secures Global Rights to Biohaven Epilepsy Drug Opakalim 
Add as a preferred source on Google
SoftBank Group shares dropped sharply on Thursday, leading declines across Japanese markets, after Oracle’s mixed quarterly earnings reignited concerns about soaring artificial intelligence investments. SoftBank (TYO:9984) slid 7.7% to 17,210 yen, marking a one-week low and making it the worst performer on the Nikkei 225, which fell more than 1%.
The selloff followed a steep 10% plunge in Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) after the cloud giant reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat profit expectations but fell short on revenue. Investor sentiment weakened further as Oracle issued a softer-than-expected outlook for the current quarter and sharply raised its fiscal 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $50 billion from $35 billion. The increase underscored the company’s aggressive push into AI infrastructure, but also amplified doubts about how effectively it can monetize such heavy investments.
Analysts flagged rising concerns about Oracle’s debt load, fueled by multiple bond issuances this year, as well as its significant exposure to OpenAI. BMO analysts noted that OpenAI’s substantial spending commitments could pose long-term risks, especially with uncertainty around how the startup plans to meet its obligations.
These worries extended to SoftBank, a major OpenAI backer. CFO Yoshimitsu Goto recently emphasized that the conglomerate remains focused on OpenAI and is not seeking to fund competing AI ventures. SoftBank has pledged up to $40 billion in investments for the ChatGPT maker and recently revealed that it sold all its NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares to help finance the commitment.
Oracle, meanwhile, has promised large-scale data-center capacity for OpenAI and has been raising capital to support the build-out. But the latest earnings did little to calm concerns over the sustainability of massive AI spending, which has yet to generate meaningful returns for many tech leaders. OpenAI itself is projected to burn significant cash and faces intensifying competition from major players like Google, even as it targets more than $1 trillion in AI infrastructure spending over the next five years.
