Japan's SoftBank zooms past Toyota

SoftBank surpassed the Japanese carmaker after pledging over the weekend to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) to build Europe’s largest AI facility in France, helping to boost its share price by 14% on Monday – enough for it to overtake Toyota in terms of market capitalization. Toyota’s ousting from Japan’s top spot reflects the surging global interest in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, and marks a substantial moment for a country that has long been renowned for its automotive exports. SoftBank’s share price is up 85% since the start of the year, thanks in part to its hefty investments in OpenAI, which is preparing to go public in the United States.