Shares of SoftBank jumped as much as 13% Thursday, a day after the Japanese giant announced a deal to buy the robotics division of Swiss engineering firm ABB for $5.4 billion, further advancing SoftBank's AI footprint.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval globally, means ABB will no longer look to spin off its robotics business as a separately listed company.

"SoftBank's next frontier is Physical AI. Together with ABB Robotics, we will unite world-class technology and talent under our shared vision to fuse Artificial Super Intelligence and robotics — driving a groundbreaking evolution that will propel humanity forward," Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, said in a statement.

Artificial Super Intelligence, or ASI, is Son's idea of AI that is 10,000 times smart

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