$280 billion, OpenAI secures the largest financing in history

Translation | Qian Cheng

Editor | Shuiqing Li

According to a report by Nikkei Asia on December 31st, SoftBank has completed an additional investment of $22.5 billion (approximately RMB 157.4 billion) in OpenAI as promised, increasing its stake to about 11%. The transaction was completed last week in the US. With this investment, SoftBank's total investment in OpenAI has reached $34.7 billion (approximately RMB 242.8 billion).

SoftBank's investment in OpenAI began in February this year. The company plans to invest $40 billion (approximately RMB 279.9 billion) in OpenAI over the next 12 to 24 months at a valuation of $260 billion (approximately RMB 1.8 trillion). The investment will be made through direct investment and in combination with co - investors. Part of the funds will be used to support the AI infrastructure "Stargate", which is a joint investment by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.

This also means that the $40 billion (approximately RMB 279.9 billion) investment from SoftBank in OpenAI has been fully received.

It is worth mentioning that the core prerequisite for the full disbursement of this funds is that OpenAI completes its restructuring and becomes a for - profit organization by the end of the year. Otherwise, the investment will be reduced to just $10 billion.

Now, the investment mogul Masayoshi Son has made a crucial move in the global AI arms race, initiating a new round of high - stakes bets.

01.

OpenAI's Restructuring is the Prerequisite for SoftBank's Investment

SoftBank's huge investment in OpenAI is full of drama.

In March this year, SoftBank announced that it would invest $40 billion (approximately RMB 279.9 billion) in OpenAI. About $30 billion (approximately RMB 209.9 billion) of this would be from SoftBank alone, and the other approximately $10 billion (approximately RMB 69.9 billion) would be a joint investment with other supporters.

Among SoftBank's solo investment, in April this year, SoftBank completed the first - stage investment of $7.5 billion (approximately RMB 52.5 billion).

At the end of October this year, Masayoshi Son announced that the remaining $22.5 billion (approximately RMB 157.4 billion) would be paid by the end of the year. Behind this was a crucial event: OpenAI completed its restructuring.

OpenAI announced that the non - profit OpenAI Foundation will hold a 26% stake in the for - profit entity OpenAI Group PBC, worth about $130 billion (approximately RMB 922.9 billion). This means that OpenAI is one step closer to an IPO and could raise tens of billions of dollars through listing in the future to support its expensive large - model research.

There were also reports at that time that if OpenAI failed to complete the crucial corporate restructuring by the end of this year, SoftBank's promised $40 billion investment (approximately RMB 279.9 billion) might be significantly reduced to only $10 billion.

Now, SoftBank's final investment of $22.5 billion (approximately RMB 157.4 billion) has arrived.

According to Nikkei Asia, part of SoftBank's latest investment comes from a loan secured by its shares in Arm, using the entire unused credit line of $11.5 billion (approximately RMB 80.5 billion).

In April this year, SoftBank obtained a $15 billion (approximately RMB 104.9 billion) bridge loan involving 21 financial institutions. Excluding bond redemptions, its total fundraising in fiscal year 2025 reached $9.3 billion (approximately RMB 65.1 billion).

SoftBank's loan - to - value ratio currently seems to be stable at around 10%, lower than the 25% upper limit it set. This is a key indicator for measuring SoftBank's financial situation, calculated as the ratio of net debt to the value of its equity holdings.

02.

SoftBank Sells All Nvidia Shares to Raise Funds for OpenAI

This year, SoftBank has been increasingly aggressive in the AI field.

Yesterday, SoftBank announced that it will acquire DigitalBridge for $4 billion (approximately RMB 27.9 billion) to expand its next - generation AI infrastructure construction. DigitalBridge is an alternative asset management company focusing on digital infrastructure investment, including data centers, cell towers, fiber - optic networks, and edge infrastructure. The total enterprise value is about $400 million (approximately RMB 2.8 billion).

As an early investor in Nvidia, last month, SoftBank sold all its shares in Nvidia, which were worth $5.8 billion (approximately RMB 40.6 billion). People familiar with the matter told CNBC that this sale and other advanced funding sources are to support the investment in OpenAI.

At the beginning of the year, SoftBank announced a joint project "Stargate Project" with OpenAI and Oracle. The project plans to invest up to $500 billion (approximately RMB 3.64 trillion) in AI - related infrastructure over the next four years and create 100,000 jobs. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion (approximately RMB 699.6 billion).

In June this year, Masayoshi Son, the chairman and CEO of SoftBank, mentioned at SoftBank's annual general meeting that he believes "OpenAI will eventually go public" and "become the most valuable company in the world."

It can be seen that SoftBank's current strategy is to heavily invest in OpenAI on one hand, and on the other hand, "get involved" by acquiring AI infrastructure companies and jointly investing in the Stargate Project. This allows SoftBank to highly concentrate its funds and resources on the core parts of the AI value chain, perhaps paving the way for its subsequent commercialization.

In December this year, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank's chief financial officer, said in an interview that SoftBank is committed to becoming OpenAI's largest supporter.

However, according to the latest share price chart released by OpenAI at the end of October, Microsoft's 27% stake is worth $135 billion (approximately RMB 958.4 billion), far exceeding SoftBank's stake.

▲ OpenAI's equity structure chart released at the end of October

03.

Conclusion: SoftBank Initiates a High - Stakes AI Bet Amid the Changing Landscape of Large Models

Since the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, OpenAI has been regarded as the absolute top player in the large - model industry. However, the situation has changed. As various tech giants and large - model startups have entered the market one after another, the industry landscape is being quietly rewritten.

From this perspective, although SoftBank's aggressive strategy may help it seize the high - ground in the AI field, it also needs to be vigilant about the cash - flow pressure and the risk of falling short of expectations due to high investment and long - term cycles. Whether it will succeed in the future depends on the pace of the Stargate's computing power going online and the progress of OpenAI's model iteration and commercialization.

Source: Nikkei Asia, CNBC

This article is from the WeChat official account “Zhidongxi” (ID: zhidxcom). Author: Qian Cheng. Republished by 36Kr with permission.