SoftBank may become OpenAI’s biggest investor if it decides to invest up to $25 billion in the AI company, according to reports available to BrandSpur digital news platform.
The Japanese conglomerate may invest more than $40 billion in the field as part of its AI strategy, according to people familiar with the situation. The talks follow OpenAI and SoftBank’s $100 billion commitment to Stargate, a U.S. data centre project intended to meet OpenAI’s expanding infrastructure requirements. The goal of the $500 billion, four-year program is to improve America’s standing in the world of artificial intelligence.
In addition to the $15 billion SoftBank has already promised Stargate, the company is now thinking about investing a another $15 billion to $25 billion directly in OpenAI. The acquisition would increase Microsoft’s current ownership of OpenAI if it goes through. The main cloud partner of OpenAI has been Microsoft, which made its initial investment in the ChatGPT manufacturer in 2019.
With Microsoft allegedly agreeing to give up its exclusive cloud provider position, recent events indicate OpenAI may be trying to diversify its financing sources. The timing of SoftBank’s action aligns with current problems in the AI sector, which have arisen since DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, recently unveiled a potent model created with comparatively little funding. One of the largest manufacturers of AI hardware, Nvidia, saw its market value decline following the debut before rising again as a result of the market upheaval.
Continuing, DeepSeek has been charged by OpenAI with employing a process known as “distillation” to train the recently published AI system. With less resources, developers can duplicate high-performance AI using this technique, however OpenAI claims that this usage is against their terms of service.
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High-stakes investments are nothing new to Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank. His next foray into artificial intelligence would be his largest commitment since the disastrous $16 billion investment in WeWork. This time, though, SoftBank seems to be taking a more calculated risk, as it is anticipated that Stargate’s finance will be arranged using a mix of debt and equity options.
According to reports, about 20% of the project’s finance will come from equity, with the other funds being supported by forecasted cash flows and assets. OpenAI, which was valued at $157 billion in its most recent round of fundraising, is also considering switching to a for-profit business model in order to raise more money. In the meantime, SoftBank’s stock has fluctuated throughout these AI breakthroughs, rising after the Stargate announcement and falling after DeepSeek’s disruption of the market.
