The Chinese technology company is expected to expand especially in the Midwest, focusing on agricultural products such as wine and fruit that could be sold through Alibaba to consumers in China and Asia, usatoday.com reports.
Alibaba aspires to be the digital platform through which all international retailers gain access to Chinese consumers. Moreover, Alibaba controls about 80% of China’s online shopping market with marketplaces such as Taobao and T-Mall.
Through Alibaba's AliExpress service Chinese retailers sell to US consumers and US brands sell to Chinese consumers.
SoftBank also plans to invest USD 50 billion into the US economy, and add 50,000 jobs. The Japanese company has a majority stake in Sprint, whose plans to merge with T-Mobile were thwarted by the Obama Administration. SoftBank did not say what specific investments would make but they were part of a previously announced USD 100 billion tech investment fund.