SoftBank Completes OpenAI Investment with $22.5B Cash Injection

According to reports, SoftBank Group has finalized its $40 billion investment in OpenAI PBC, a deal first announced in March.

Sources told CNBC that the Japanese conglomerate completed the transaction last week by transferring $22.5 billion directly to OpenAI. The remaining $17.5 billion was raised in two tranches: $7.5 billion was paid by SoftBank last month, with the balance secured from a consortium of investors in April.

Part of the funding will support OpenAI’s Starlink data center initiative, launched earlier this year with the goal of deploying 10 gigawatts of computing capacity by 2029. The project is backed by Oracle Corporation and SB Energy, SoftBank’s renewable energy infrastructure development arm.

The completion of SoftBank’s $22.5 billion cash infusion follows major structural changes within OpenAI. Until recently, the ChatGPT creator operated as a nonprofit with a for-profit subsidiary. Recent restructuring has transformed the for-profit unit into an independent public benefit corporation.

To finance the investment, SoftBank divested several assets from its portfolio. The company sold $5.8 billion worth of NVIDIA shares and $4.8 billion in T-Mobile US Inc. stock. Additionally, it secured an $11.5 billion loan using shares in Arm Holdings plc as collateral.

Nikkei Asia reported that SoftBank now holds approximately 11% of OpenAI, making it the second-largest investor behind Microsoft, which owns 27.5%. Prior to the recent organizational overhaul, the tech giant held an even larger stake—32%.

SoftBank is positioned to achieve substantial returns on its investment.

When the company signed onto OpenAI’s $40 billion funding round in March, the AI firm was already valued at $300 billion. A recent secondary sale of $6.6 billion pushed that figure up to $500 billion. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI is negotiating another funding round at an even higher valuation.

Sources informed Reuters that the ChatGPT developer may pursue an initial public offering following anticipated interest rate cuts. The IPO could take place as early as 2027, giving SoftBank the opportunity to exit part of its stake at a significant premium. OpenAI is expected to offer no less than $60 billion in shares, potentially at a $1 trillion valuation.

SoftBank’s AI ambitions extend beyond OpenAI. On Monday, the company closed a $4.04 billion deal to acquire DigitalBridge Group Inc., a private equity firm active in the technology sector. One of its portfolio companies, Vantage Data Centers Management Company LLC, is supporting OpenAI’s construction of the Stargate data center campus in Wisconsin.