SoftBank Group has now fully delivered on its $40 billion commitment to OpenAI, according to reports, strengthening its position at the heart of the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector.
Sources reported that the Japanese conglomerate recently transferred the final tranche of between $22 billion and $22.5 billion, following earlier investments made directly and through syndicated deals with co-investors.
The investment comes as SoftBank continues to assemble one of the world’s largest private technology portfolios, with a particular emphasis on AI and the infrastructure required to support it, including data centres.
AI has dominated global tech markets this year, reshaping corporate strategies and pushing major companies to increase spending. The Japanese group and the ChatGPT developer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In March, SoftBank agreed to invest up to $40 billion into a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI. The arrangement combined its own capital with funding from other backers. The deal valued OpenAI at around $300 billion on a post-money basis, although a secondary share sale in October reportedly lifted that valuation to about $500 billion, according to PitchBook. SoftBank’s latest transfer followed earlier contributions of $8 billion and a syndicated $10 billion.
OpenAI has become a central player in the current AI build-out. Alongside Oracle and other partners, it is linked to “Stargate”, a large-scale, long-term data centre initiative designed to support future AI models and expanding computing needs.
