SoftBank is weighing a leadership shift that would expand Arm CEO Rene Haas’s responsibilities to oversee broader international operations at SoftBank Group International, while he continues to lead Arm, signaling a pivot toward an AI-centric strategy.

This broadened remit would place Haas among the ranks of SoftBank’s most senior executives, strengthening collaboration with founder Masayoshi Son and advancing SoftBank’s AI chip agenda, Project Izanagi, to compete with Nvidia.

The move aligns with SoftBank’s intensified push into artificial intelligence and advanced chips, including accelerating Project Izanagi to develop AI-capable chips for smartphones and data centers.

SoftBank and Arm have not publicly commented on the reported management changes.

Arm declined to comment, and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters and the Financial Times.

SoftBank and Arm have not publicly commented on the reported changes.

SoftBank has been connected to reports of a potential roughly $30 billion investment in OpenAI through Vision Fund 2, tying into a broader objective to deepen exposure to AI technologies.

SoftBank’s aggressive AI push includes considering a $30 billion OpenAI investment via Vision Fund 2, with SoftBank reportedly holding around an 11% OpenAI stake at the end of last year.

Media reports have highlighted SoftBank’s potential $30 billion OpenAI investment via Vision Fund 2 as part of expanding AI exposure.

Haas’s expanded remit would not extend to overseeing the Vision Fund or SoftBank’s energy unit, maintaining a separation between SoftBank’s investment engines and executive leadership.

Under the FT’s framing, Haas would hold a senior title at SoftBank Group International without oversight of the Vision Fund’s investment vehicles or the energy business.

The new remit is anticipated to exclude the Vision Fund and energy unit, filtering senior leadership through SoftBank Group International rather than the asset-heavy investment arms.