SoftBank on Friday announced plans to issue euro and dollar-denominated bonds as it looks to pay down debt and focus its investments on artificial intelligence.

The huge Japanese holding company said it will issue around $900 million in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in two tranches, and 900 million euros ($962.8 million) worth of bonds, also in two tranches. These will have interest rates ranging from 5.4% to 7% per annum.

SoftBank said the money raised will be used for “repayment of indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.”

Its shares closed up 2.5% after news of the bond issuance.

The raising of money via debt comes as SoftBank’s overall financial losses have begun to narrow as it logs some successes, including the initial public offering of chip designer Arm.

Meanwhile, the company, which runs a massive technology investment arm called the Vision Fund, has also suggested it is looking to ramp up investments in artificial intelligence companies.

In a rare public appearance this month, Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank, talked of a concept he called artificial super intelligence, or ASI. He said this refers to AI that is 10,000 times smarter than humans, which he expects to exist within 10 years.

SoftBank is likely looking to capitalize on improving investor sentiment toward the company, highlighted by a 65% year-to-date rise in its shares.

HANGZHOU, China — The transforming power of artificial intelligence is of no value unless user data is protected, CEO of Chinese smartphone company Honor, George Zhao, told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

His comments come as Apple this month announced it will start rolling out personalized AI tools on certain devices in the U.S. this fall.

Honor already integrates some AI functions, such as enabling users to open text messages and other notifications just by looking at them, or eliminating copy-paste steps by directly linking Yelp-like apps to navigation or ride-hailing apps.

This week at Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, Honor unveiled new AI tools for detecting the use of deepfakes in videos, and for simulating lenses that can decrease myopia during long hours of screen usage.

Zhao emphasized that Honor’s approach is to keep AI operations involving personal data limited to the smartphone. It’s also known as on-device AI, and stands in contrast with AI tools that tap cloud computing to operate.

“Without data security and user privacy protection, AI will become worthless,” Zhao said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. “This has always been one of our value propositions.”

“We say user data doesn’t leave [the device],” Zhao said. “This is a principle we adhere to.”

Apple Intelligence, the iPhone company’s AI product, claims that it uses on-device processing and draws on “server-based models” for more complex requests. Apple said its new “Private Cloud Compute” never stores user data.

Honor says its on-device AI is self-developed, and the company is working with Baidu and Google Cloud for some other AI features.

“Overall, my view is that AI’s development to date has two directions,” Zhao said. “Network [cloud] AI has become more and more powerful. But I believe on-device AI, in its capabilities and empowerment of consumers, will become more and more intimate, more and more understanding.”

“It will give consumers more support and help them interact with the future AI world,” he added.

Zhao pointed out that many generative AI applications, such as from OpenAI’s ChatGPT, require large amounts of computing power well beyond the battery capability of a single smartphone.

That means they need to use the cloud, which raises questions about the security of data transfer.

Balancing AI capabilities with energy usage and data privacy is a “huge challenge” for manufacturers, Zhao said.

He said a system collecting lots of user data to deliver more personalized features becomes a “stronger” object compared to the individual using the system.

“In the future development of smartphones, our goal is that the individual becomes stronger,” Zhao said.

“When an object becomes stronger, this will reveal the smallness of the individual in its presence. I believe mobile end devices need to empower and enable individuals.”

Honor’s Magic V2 folding phone, which launched in China last summer and in Europe earlier this year, won the “Best Smartphone in Asia Award” at the Shanghai MWC this week.

The Magic V2 folds up nearly as thin as an iPhone.

Honor is set to release the Magic V3 in July with the company’s latest AI functions.

When asked whether the new foldable would be even thinner, Zhao only said, “Of course, we need to challenge ourselves, right?”

Peter Thiel, once one of Donald Trump’s major financial backers in the tech industry, said Thursday that even though he’s not providing money to the Republican presumptive nominee’s campaign this time around, he’d vote for him over President Joe Biden.

“If you hold a gun to my head, I’ll vote for Trump,” Thiel said in an interview on stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “I’m not going to give any money to his super PAC.”

Thiel donated $1.25 million to Trump’s campaign in 2016 at a time when the vast majority of tech money was going to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Thiel, best known for an early bet on Facebook and for co-founding Palantir, also spoke at the Republican National Convention that year and, after the election, helped organize a meeting between Trump and top execs at Amazon, Apple, Google, Tesla and several other giant tech companies.

However, Thiel later soured on Trump and said last year that he wouldn’t be funding any politician in the 2024 presidential campaign. That’s after he spent $32 million on Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections with mixed results.

In Ohio, Trump’s pick, Republican J.D. Vance, defended a GOP-held seat against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan. But in Arizona, Republican Blake Masters failed in his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

WATCH: Tech for Trump