SoftBank has secured pledges from Microsoft, Apple and other investors of around $108 billion for a second Vision Fund aimed at investing in artificial intelligence.

The Japanese conglomerate itself plans to invest $38 billion in the fund, it said in a statement. Others set to join include iPhone assembler Foxconn and Japan’s Mizuho Bank and MUFG Bank.

“The objective of the fund is to facilitate the continued acceleration of the AI revolution through investment in market-leading, tech-enabled growth companies,” SoftBank said in its statement.

Chief executive Masayoshi Son uses artificial intelligence as a catch-all term to characterize SoftBank’s investment portfolio, which features businesses as varied as ride-hailing and autonomous driving, insurance and healthcare.

Notable by their absence on the list of state and corporate backers were the sovereign wealth funds of the two countries which formed the cornerstone of its first fund: Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, as well as investment bank Goldman Sachs.

SoftBank said it was still talking to potential investors and that it expected the fund’s anticipated capital to grow.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg in October his country was ready to commit a further $45 billion through its Public Investment Fund (PIF), adding: “Without the PIF, there will be no SoftBank Vision Fund”.

Those close links later compelled Softbank founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son to defend the relationship after Saudi security personnel were accused of murdering Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of the Saudi state.

Discussions between Softbank and PIF were ongoing, but the Saudis would wait for a formal proposal before deciding whether to invest in the new fund, a source familiar with the matter said.

A spokeswoman for Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala told Reuters it was still in the process of assessing a potential investment. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported Goldman Sachs would invest in the fund.