Add an additional $30 billion in investment. Masayoshi Son liquidated his NVIDIA holdings and went all-in on Altman.

Between Silicon Valley and Tokyo, a high - stakes gamble on the upper limit of computing power for human civilization is entering the stage of confrontation.

On January 28, according to people familiar with the matter, SoftBank Group is in the late stage of negotiations to make an additional investment of up to $30 billion in OpenAI. This capital injection will not only bring OpenAI's total financing scale closer to $100 billion, but may also push the valuation of this leading artificial intelligence company to a staggering $830 billion.

However, this is not just a simple change in equity. Behind this huge capital flow lies a grand blueprint woven by SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and contract manufacturing giant Hon Hai: Through the infrastructure project of "Project Stargate", transform AI from a mere algorithm competition into a heavy - industry race involving energy, land, and steel.

01 SoftBank to Compete with Microsoft on Equal Footing

SoftBank disclosed in November 2025 that it had liquidated its $5.8 billion worth of NVIDIA shares in October 2025. In the eyes of the outside world, this is like selling the largest "hoe" supplier during the gold rush.

But for Masayoshi Son, the logic is clear and decisive: He is shifting his chips from "general - purpose hardware" to "super - intelligence" and its supporting vertically integrated system.

This shift by Masayoshi Son reflects his judgment on the reconstruction of the AI value chain. He believes that although NVIDIA currently dominates the chip market, future core profits will be concentrated in companies that possess "model sovereignty" and "computing power sovereignty".

In December last year, SoftBank increased its shareholding ratio to approximately 11% through an investment of $22.5 billion. The proposed additional investment of $30 billion will make it the most powerful external force in OpenAI's capital landscape, and it will even have the capital to compete with Microsoft on an equal footing in strategic decision - making.

This new investment of up to $30 billion is largely to feed the money - guzzling "Project Stargate". The project was launched in early 2025, aiming to build 20 giant data center clusters in the United States through an investment of hundreds of billions of dollars.

These data centers are no longer traditional computer rooms, but "sovereign - level computing power islands" that consume gigawatt (GW) - level electricity and have independent energy supply systems.

To support the operation of these fortresses, SoftBank and OpenAI have injected $1 billion into their subsidiary SB Energy, attempting to establish an exclusive renewable energy matrix in energy - rich areas such as Texas.

Masayoshi Son once said bluntly at an internal meeting: "The end - game of AI is energy." The goal of Project Stargate is not only to run models but also to ensure that OpenAI is no longer restricted by the bottlenecks of third - party infrastructure by controlling the entire chain from electricity to chip assembly.

02 Hon Hai's Entry: "Precision Heavy Industry" in the AI Era

If OpenAI is the brain and SoftBank is the blood, then Hon Hai is the backbone of this project.

In August last year, to achieve the local manufacturing of core hardware, SoftBank bought the former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio, for $375 million and immediately established a joint venture with Hon Hai, with each holding a 50% stake.

This move marks the beginning of a new era: This giant factory, which once produced Chevrolet cars, is undergoing a $3 - billion modernization transformation. Driven by the contractor Shimizu, the factory has shifted from producing electric vehicles to producing server racks with OpenAI's self - developed architecture.

Hon Hai has injected its extreme contract - manufacturing experience accumulated in the iPhone era into the AI field. The "modular data center components" produced by this factory allow equipment to be assembled and initially tested in the factory and then directly transported to the data center site for quick plug - and - play use. According to technical experts from Schneider Electric, this model can shorten the construction cycle of data centers from 12 months to 7 - 8 months.

This "factory reshoring" model not only avoids complex tariff risks but also enables OpenAI to deploy the latest computing power nodes in the United States with extremely high efficiency. For Hon Hai, this marks its successful transformation from consumer electronics contract manufacturing to "computing power heavy industry", regarding server racks as the new - type power transformers of the 21st century.

03 Impact of the $830 - billion Valuation on Early Investors

OpenAI's valuation reaching $830 billion is a drastic restructuring of the early investment structure.

Microsoft previously invested approximately $13 billion and currently holds about 27% of OpenAI's shares according to the restructuring agreement in October 2025.

At a valuation of $830 billion, the book value of Microsoft's shares will soar to approximately $224.1 billion. The return on investment (ROI) of this investment will exceed 1700%.

According to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States, Microsoft's shareholding in OpenAI is more likely to be reflected in the financial statements using the equity method or fair - value measurement.

This means that although the huge gains have not been realized as cash flow, their impact on net asset per share and investment income items is substantial. For a company with a market value of trillions of dollars, this is like having an "ultra - large - scale option" in addition to its core cloud business.

However, this boosting effect is not without discounts. OpenAI is not yet listed, its liquidity is highly restricted, and its commercialization path still requires continuous huge capital investment. In other words, this is a strategic asset with extremely high volatility and a very long payback period, rather than a "cash cow" that can immediately replenish Microsoft's free cash flow.

As SoftBank plans to inject $30 billion and other investors follow suit, the board structure originally dominated by Microsoft and early - stage venture capital (such as Thrive Capital) is facing an impact.

If OpenAI issues a large number of new shares to raise $100 billion in this round of financing, Microsoft's 27% share will be passively diluted. Unless Microsoft chooses to make additional huge investments to maintain its shareholding ratio, its position as the single largest shareholder in OpenAI may be challenged by SoftBank.

The $830 - billion valuation will make Microsoft the "most successful venture capitalist in history", but at the strategic level, Microsoft is transforming from the "guardian" of OpenAI to an "ally who fights side by side but has different dreams".

(Contributed by special translator Wuji)

This article is from "Tencent Technology", author: Su Yang, editor: Xu Qingyang, published by 36Kr with authorization.