Shares of Sakura Internet surged as much as 20.2% Friday after Microsoft said it has begun discussions with the Japanese cloud company and SoftBank to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan.

Microsoft said it plans to invest $10 billion in Japan between 2026 and 2029 to build AI infrastructure, strengthen cybersecurity and train 1 million engineers and developers by 2030.

Sakura Internet, which provides internet infrastructure services using domestic data centers, and Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. will partner with Microsoft to provide AI computing resources, including graphics processing units located in Japan.

The announcement came during a visit to Japan by Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, who met Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Smith said the investment comes as demand for cloud and AI services grows in Japan. Around one in five working-age people in the country use generative AI tools, compared with the global average of about one in six, according to Microsoft’s AI Diffusion Report.

The partnership will allow data to be processed in Japan and support the development of advanced AI systems such as domestic large language models, Microsoft said in a statement.

SoftBank and Microsoft Japan are also discussing a joint solution that would allow Microsoft Azure customers to use SoftBank’s AI computing platform.

Shares of Softbank Group were up 0.22% in Friday trade, while SoftBank Corp. rose 1.02%

Separately, Microsoft will partner with five other major Japanese IT companies, including NTT Data Corp., NEC, Fujitsu and Hitachi, to train 1 million AI professionals by 2030.

Saimemory, a subsidiary of multinational investment giant SoftBank, has signed a collaboration agreement with American chipmaker Intel Corp. to advance the commercialization of next-generation memory technology, the companies announced Tuesday.

The partnership focuses on next-generation memory technologies that can support the growing demands of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The effort is currently known as the “Z-Angle Memory program,” or ZAM.

Prototypes are expected by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028, with commercialization targeted for fiscal 2029, according to a SoftBank press release. 

Shares of SoftBank rose 3.13%, while Intel stock rose 5% in overnight trading on Robinhood following the announcement.

Saimemory, established in December 2024, will draw on memory technology and expertise from Intel, particularly from initiatives it undertook as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Memory Technology program.

The program focused on developing core technologies for advanced memory. Intel’s involvement specifically targeted improvements in performance and power efficiency for next-generation Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) used in computers and servers.

“Standard memory architectures aren’t meeting AI needs,”  Dr. Joshua Fryman, Intel Fellow and CTO of Intel Government Technologies, said in a statement. 

He added that Intel has developed a new memory architecture and assembly approach that improves DRAM performance while lowering power use and costs, positioning the technology for broader adoption over the next decade.

The partnership comes amid surging demand for memory used in AI-related applications. This demand has vastly outpaced supply, which has triggered shortages across the memory supply chain.  

The emphasis on energy efficiency for the ZAM program also also reflects growing concerns over the vast energy consumption needed for AI computing.  

The collaboration between Intel and SoftBank on next-generation memory technology was first reported by Nikkei Asia last year. Fujitsu, a Japanese multinational IT equipment and services company, is also reportedly involved in the project.