SoftBank Group seeks $40bn loan to boost OpenAI stake.
Loan would be SoftBank’s largest dollar-denominated borrowing.
Firm plans additional $30bn investment, raising total commitment significantly.
Masayoshi Son ties portfolio performance increasingly to AI sector growth.
SoftBank in Talks for $40Bn Loan to Increase Investment in OpenAI
Sam Altman's startup has emerged as one of the largest assets in the portfolio of SoftBank Group, alongside its roughly 90% holding in chip designer Arm Holdings
SoftBank
Summary
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Tokyo-based technology investment firm SoftBank Group is looking for a loan of $40bn for an investment in US artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, a Bloomberg report said.
The bridge loan, with a tenor of about 12 months, would be the Masayoshi Son-led firm's largest-ever borrowing denominated solely in dollars. The report stated that it is already in talks with four lenders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., for underwriting process.
The company is aiming to invest $30bn over its previous $30 bn infusion into the AI startup. Son's company held 11% stake of OpenAI as of December, 2025 and even unloaded assets, including its stake in Nvidia, to fund its investment into the startup.
Sam Altman's startup has emerged as one of the largest assets in the portfolio of SoftBank Group, alongside its roughly 90% holding in chip designer Arm Holdings, at a time when the firm has slowed investments in other areas.
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As a result, SoftBank’s share performance has become increasingly linked to how ChatGPT fares against rival AI systems such as Gemini from Google and Claude developed by Anthropic.
SoftBank's spending spree extends well beyond its headline partnership with Sam Altman's venture.
Together with OpenAI, the Japanese conglomerate has put $1 billion into SB Energy, an infrastructure firm helping technology companies build out data centres across the United States. On top of that, SoftBank has struck a deal to acquire private equity outfit DigitalBridge Group Inc. for roughly $3 billion in cash. Last year, it bought US chip designer Ampere Computing LLC for $6.5 billion and proposed a $5.4 billion acquisition of ABB Ltd.’s robotics unit.
OpenAI Investors
On February 27, OpenAI announced $110bn in new investment at a $730bn pre-money valuation. This includes $30bn from SoftBank, $30B from NVIDIA, and $50B from Amazon.
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They’ve also signed a strategic partnership with Amazon and secured next-generation inference compute with NVIDIA. Additional financial investors are expected to join as the round progresses.