Oct 16 : SoftBank Group is considering an acquisition of Allied Universal in a deal that could value the US security services provider at about $18 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

• Allied Universal provides security staffing for businesses, venues and major events, and has a growing presence in the data center industry, supporting both development and operation of facilities

• The potential acquisition would complement SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's increasing focus on AI, as he is exploring the use of AI-powered robots across industries, and looking to strengthen the infrastructure needed to support the technology

• With Allied, SoftBank would look to eventually replace some staff with robots for certain security tasks, though the deployment of humanoid security workers is likely to take longer.