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Shares in Masayoshi Son’s technology investment group surged in Tokyo trading, lifting its market value to about ¥47.2 trillion, or roughly $296 billion, ahead of Toyota’s ¥45.7 trillion after the carmaker’s stock fell nearly 5 per cent. The move placed SoftBank at the top of Japan’s corporate valuation table for the first time in more than two decades and added momentum to a Nikkei 225 rally that pushed the index above 67,000.

The change is more than a stock-market milestone. It reflects how the AI boom has reshaped capital allocation in Japan, where investors are assigning higher value to companies with exposure to semiconductors, data centres, power infrastructure and generative AI platforms. Toyota remains one of the world’s largest and most profitable carmakers, but its valuation is now being weighed against a slower earnings outlook, tariff pressure, currency swings and the heavy cost of electrification.

SoftBank’s advance has been driven by a powerful combination of portfolio gains and expectations that its AI-linked holdings could generate fresh liquidity. The group’s exposure to Arm, the British chip-design company it took public in 2023, has become a key pillar of its market value. Arm’s technology is used widely across smartphones, cloud computing and increasingly AI-related chips, giving SoftBank a central position in the semiconductor supply chain.

OpenAI has become the second major driver of investor attention. SoftBank has committed tens of billions of dollars to the ChatGPT developer and is positioning itself as a core financier of AI infrastructure. Expectations that OpenAI could move towards a public listing have intensified interest in SoftBank’s asset base, even as analysts continue to debate how much of the group’s valuation depends on private-market pricing and future monetisation.

The latest surge followed SoftBank’s plan to invest up to €75 billion in AI infrastructure in France, including data centres and power-intensive computing capacity. The first phase is expected to involve about €45 billion of investment to build 3.1 gigawatts of capacity by 2031, with further expansion potentially taking the total to 5 gigawatts. The project places France at the centre of Europe’s push to develop sovereign AI infrastructure, helped by its nuclear-heavy power system and available industrial sites.

SoftBank is also moving to create public-market vehicles around AI infrastructure. SB Energy, its power and data-centre platform, is preparing for a potential US listing and has been linked to a valuation above $50 billion. The company is involved in large-scale power projects designed to support AI workloads, including a 1.2-gigawatt data-centre development in Texas. A separate robotics venture, Roze, is also being prepared for a possible listing, highlighting SoftBank’s attempt to build an ecosystem around energy, construction automation and computing capacity.

Toyota’s fall in ranking does not signal operational weakness. The carmaker reported operating income of ¥3.8 trillion for the financial year ended March 2026, supported by vehicle sales and pricing power despite tariff costs and rising expenses. It remains a global force in hybrid technology, production efficiency and supply-chain management. However, investors have become more cautious about its growth outlook as the auto sector faces higher regulatory costs, slower battery-electric vehicle adoption in some markets, and intensifying competition from China-based manufacturers.

The contrast between SoftBank and Toyota captures a broader reordering of Japan’s equity market. AI-linked names, chip suppliers and infrastructure companies are drawing strong inflows, while parts of the auto sector and older industrial groups face questions over margin durability. Kioxia, the memory-chip maker, has also climbed sharply this year, showing how investor enthusiasm has spread beyond SoftBank into companies tied to storage and high-performance computing.

The rally has strengthened the profile of Son, whose investment record has swung between spectacular gains and painful losses. SoftBank’s Vision Fund suffered heavy write-downs after the collapse in technology valuations in 2021 and 2022, while earlier bets such as WeWork damaged confidence in the group’s risk controls. Its comeback has been powered by a more concentrated AI narrative, but that also leaves the shares vulnerable if expectations around OpenAI, Arm or infrastructure listings are revised lower.

The measures apply to online platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia, bringing Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube within the scope of the rules. Companies must introduce age-verification systems for new users and checks for existing account holders, while strengthening safeguards against harmful content, cyberbullying, grooming, scams, child sexual abuse material and other online risks identified by regulators.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has framed the move as a child-protection measure rather than a general restriction on internet access. Children under 16 are not being cut off from the internet, but they are no longer permitted to own private social media accounts in their own names. Parents will not face penalties if children bypass the rules, but platforms that fail to comply can face fines of up to 10 million ringgit.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil had signalled the age floor last year, arguing that children were being exposed to online harms at a scale that demanded firmer platform accountability. He has said the policy is aimed at stopping under-16s from opening accounts independently, while allowing supervised access under parental control. Officials have also pointed to the spread of scams, online gambling, predatory contact and bullying as risks that existing moderation systems have failed to contain.

The enforcement places Malaysia among a growing group of governments testing age-based restrictions on social media. Australia has moved ahead with a comparable under-16 model, while the United Kingdom and several European governments are examining tougher obligations on platforms, age checks and design features that can encourage prolonged use by minors. Indonesia and Turkey have also discussed stronger limits for children’s access to social platforms.

Malaysia’s approach marks a significant shift in Southeast Asia’s digital regulation, where governments have increasingly moved from voluntary platform pledges to statutory obligations. The country has already required large social media and messaging platforms to obtain operating licences, with authorities saying the regime is intended to combat cybercrime, harmful content and misuse of online services. The under-16 rule adds a more targeted child-safety layer to that broader regulatory framework.

The most difficult part of implementation is likely to be age verification. Platforms may need to rely on identity documents, digital identity systems, facial estimation technology, parental confirmation or other mechanisms. Each option raises trade-offs. Stronger verification can reduce false age declarations, but it can also require users to hand over sensitive personal data. Privacy advocates have warned that age checks could create wider data-collection risks unless platforms limit retention, secure information properly and avoid using identity data for advertising or profiling.

Child-rights and free-expression groups have also questioned whether a blanket age rule will protect vulnerable users or push them towards less visible online spaces. Critics argue that determined teenagers may use virtual private networks, borrowed accounts, false birth dates or overseas registration routes to evade the restriction. They say a safer approach would combine age-appropriate design, stronger default privacy settings, rapid removal of harmful content, limits on addictive features and meaningful complaint channels.

Supporters of the policy counter that age limits give parents a clearer standard and force platforms to accept responsibility for systems that have often treated children as ordinary users. They argue that voluntary parental controls have not kept pace with algorithmic recommendation systems, private messaging risks and the commercial incentives behind engagement-driven platforms. The new rules are expected to test whether large technology companies can apply credible safeguards without excluding legitimate educational, civic and social uses of digital services.

The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation increased the price of 92-octane petrol to 434 Sri Lankan rupees a litre from 410 rupees, while auto diesel rose to 407 rupees from 392 rupees. The revision adds to household and transport costs at a time when the island’s recovery from its 2022 debt default remains exposed to global energy shocks, a weaker currency and pressure on public finances.

The adjustment follows the IMF executive board’s approval of fresh funding under Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility, agreed in early 2023 after the country ran out of foreign exchange and suspended repayment on about $46 billion in external debt. The programme requires cost-reflective pricing for fuel and electricity, stronger revenue collection, improved governance and protection for vulnerable households as subsidies are gradually unwound.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has told the IMF that fuel subsidies will be phased out by September. The pledge marks a politically sensitive step for a government facing pressure from consumers, transport operators and small businesses that remain scarred by the shortages and inflationary spiral of 2022. Fuel pricing has become a central test of the administration’s ability to maintain reform commitments without provoking a deeper squeeze on living standards.

Sri Lanka imports all its petroleum requirements and also relies on imported coal for part of its electricity generation. That exposure has sharpened the impact of turmoil in the Middle East, where higher crude prices and disruption risks have increased the cost of energy imports. Petrol and diesel prices have climbed sharply since late February, while electricity tariffs have also been raised as part of the effort to prevent losses at state-owned utilities from spilling into the budget.

The price increase comes amid renewed inflation concerns. Headline inflation rose to 5.4 per cent in April from 2.2 per cent in March, reversing part of the disinflation that had helped stabilise the economy after the crisis. Fuel and transport costs are expected to feed into food distribution, public transport fares and logistics charges, with lower-income households likely to feel the effects first.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka responded to the pressure last week with an unexpected 100-basis-point increase in its benchmark policy rate, lifting the overnight policy rate to 8.75 per cent from 7.75 per cent. The move was designed to contain inflation expectations, limit rupee depreciation and support external stability, though it also raised concerns that tighter credit could slow investment and consumption.

Foreign reserves fell 3.8 per cent in April to $6.7 billion, reflecting higher import costs and currency pressure. The IMF disbursement is expected to help rebuild reserve buffers, but the broader challenge remains keeping the external account stable while meeting fuel, fertiliser, medicine and food import needs. A sustained rise in energy prices could widen the import bill and complicate the government’s debt-restructuring path.

Economic growth is projected to slow to about 3 per cent this year after expanding 5 per cent in 2025. Tourism, remittances and improved fiscal management have supported the rebound, but higher interest rates and energy costs could weigh on activity. Businesses that depend on transport and electricity are likely to pass on part of the cost increase, while exporters face mixed effects from a weaker rupee and higher domestic input prices.

The fuel adjustment also revives debate over the balance between reform and relief. Cost-recovery pricing is intended to stop Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the power sector from accumulating losses that would eventually require budget support. Critics argue that faster price transmission can deepen hardship unless social protection systems are strengthened and targeted cash transfers reach households most exposed to rising food, transport and utility bills.