SoftBank invests $41 billion in OpenAI, grabs 11% stake in AI giant
SoftBank has completed a massive 41 billion dollar investment in OpenAI, giving the Japanese tech giant nearly 11 percent ownership in the ChatGPT maker. The funding comes as global AI spending rises, pushing OpenAI's valuation toward 500 billion dollars. SoftBank is betting big on the future of artificial intelligence technology.
New Delhi: SoftBank has closed one of the biggest AI bets in history, and honestly, it feels like one of those moments you know we will look back at years later. The company has completed a massive 41 billion dollar investment in OpenAI, giving the Japanese group roughly 11 percent stake in the ChatGPT maker. As someone who keeps watching this AI wave unfold every single day, this one really stood out, not only for the size of money involved but also for the clear message it sends. Masayoshi Son has gone "all in” on artificial intelligence and he is not even hiding it anymore.
The announcement comes right at the end of a year where AI has reshaped the tech industry, stock market mood, and honestly, daily conversations. SoftBank has not just written a cheque and walked away. It has also been buying into the hardware and digital backbone required to run AI systems. Just days before this OpenAI update, SoftBank announced a separate 4 billion dollar deal for DigitalBridge, a company that invests in digital infrastructure. That sort of move tells you they are thinking beyond hype and looking at long term AI plumbing.
SoftBank doubles down on OpenAI
According to details shared through multiple global reports, SoftBank confirmed that it has now completed an additional 22.5 billion dollar investment, after already putting in 7.5 billion dollars earlier. OpenAI also received an extra 11 billion dollars through syndicated co-investments from other backers during this round. Earlier this year, SoftBank had agreed to invest up to 40 billion dollars into OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary, structured through direct capital and syndicated support.
The numbers around valuation are equally striking. A deal earlier had valued OpenAI at around 300 billion dollars post-money, but a later secondary sale reportedly pushed the figure closer to 500 billion dollars, according to Pitchbook data. CNBC first reported the latest development.
AI spending wave and the "Stargate” push
2025 has clearly been the year where AI stopped being just a buzzword and turned into the main economic story. SoftBank wants to be right in the middle of it. OpenAI sits at the heart of this global spending race, and one of the biggest projects linked to this is "Stargate” alongside Oracle and other partners. It is described as a multi-year mega data centre plan to support future AI systems.