Australia's export price index rose 3.6%, while its import price index advanced 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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.

TOKYO -- Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group plans to contact big investment firms including Apollo Global Management about fundraising for a U.S. artificial intelligence project proposed by President Donald Trump, Nikkei has learned.

Japan’s chip-related shares including Advantest Corp. tumbled as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek gained traction, raising concern the app will threaten US’s technological leadership.Most Read from BloombergWhat Happened to Hanging Out on the Street?

Shares in Japanese tech behemoth SoftBank Group soared more than eight percent on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump announced a major investment to build AI infrastructure.

The president said it will be the largest AI infrastructure ever built and that it will help counter technology threats from China and other countries.

For a Japan Inc anxious about how ... decided unless you won," he told Trump. SoftBank's shares jumped roughly 11% in Tokyo following the news. The group has around $25 billion to hand and a ...

Tokyo stocks ended sharply higher Wednesday, driven by gains in semiconductor-related shares following news that SoftBank Group will

Large technology firms paced declines, with Advantest Corp. sliding as much as 11% in Tokyo and SoftBank Group Corp. slumping 6%.

The Japanese conglomerate is in talks to spend up to $43 billion to boost the ChatGPT developer.

Some of the funding would be used to help cover OpenAI’s $18 billion commitment to the recently announced Stargate project.