TOKYO (GeokHub) — SoftBank Group is in discussions to invest up to an additional $30 billion in OpenAI, deepening founder Masayoshi Son’s aggressive bet on artificial intelligence and positioning the Japanese conglomerate at the center of the global AI race.
The proposed investment would form part of a broader funding round that could raise as much as $100 billion for the maker of ChatGPT, valuing OpenAI at around $830 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
If completed, the deal would further cement SoftBank as one of OpenAI’s largest and most influential backers.
Masayoshi Son’s ‘All-In’ AI Strategy
Son has made artificial intelligence the core pillar of SoftBank’s future strategy. In December, the company completed a $41 billion investment in OpenAI, securing an 11% stake and signaling what Son described internally as an “all-in” commitment to AI.
The latest talks underscore SoftBank’s determination to strengthen its position as competition intensifies between OpenAI and rivals such as Google, which has been rapidly expanding its own AI capabilities.
SoftBank declined to comment on the discussions. The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks.
OpenAI’s Growing Costs and Capital Needs
OpenAI faces soaring expenses tied to training increasingly powerful AI models and operating them at global scale. As demand for generative AI accelerates, the company has been seeking unprecedented levels of funding to support computing infrastructure, research, and deployment.
Last month, Reuters reported that SoftBank had scrambled to assemble financing for its previous OpenAI investment, slowing deal activity at its Vision Fund as capital was redirected toward AI.
Strategic Role in ‘Stargate’ Data Center Project
Both SoftBank and OpenAI are also key investors in Stargate, a proposed $500 billion initiative aimed at building massive AI data centers for training and inference. Executives involved in the project have described it as critical to U.S. efforts to maintain leadership in artificial intelligence amid rising competition from China.
SoftBank shares rose about 3.5% in Tokyo trading following reports of the latest talks, reflecting investor optimism around the group’s deepening AI exposure.
