SoftBank Group has officially completed its massive $40 billion investment in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. This is one of the largest private technology investments ever made and shows how strongly SoftBank believes in the future of artificial intelligence.
The deal also highlights CEO Masayoshi Son’s long-term focus on AI, which he sees as the most important technology of the next generation.
Deal Details Explained Simply
SoftBank sent its final payment of about $22 billion to $22.5 billion last week, completing a funding plan that was first announced earlier this year. Before this final payment, SoftBank had already invested $7.5 billion directly into OpenAI and helped raise another $11 billion from other investors.
In total, SoftBank’s full commitment comes to around $41 billion.
Because of this investment, SoftBank now owns about 11% of OpenAI.
When the deal was first signed, OpenAI was valued at around $300 billion. Later, a stock sale in October raised that value to nearly $500 billion, showing how fast the company is growing.
How SoftBank Paid for This Huge Investment
To raise such a large amount of money, SoftBank made several big changes to its investment portfolio.
Last month, the company sold all of its Nvidia shares, worth about $5.8 billion. Nvidia is one of the biggest companies benefiting from the AI boom. SoftBank also sold $9.17 billion worth of T-Mobile shares and slowed down most new investments under its Vision Fund.
These moves helped SoftBank free up cash to complete the OpenAI deal.
Big Push Into AI Infrastructure
A large part of this money will go toward OpenAI’s “Stargate” project. This is a long-term plan to build massive data centers that can support powerful next-generation AI models.
The project is being developed together with Oracle and other partners.
Just before confirming the OpenAI investment, SoftBank also announced it would buy DigitalBridge, a data center investment company, for about $4 billion. This move further strengthens SoftBank’s position in AI infrastructure.
OpenAI’s Growing Plans
OpenAI has committed to spending more than $1.4 trillion over the coming years on infrastructure. This includes major agreements with chip companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom.
The company is also reportedly discussing a $10 billion investment from Amazon and is preparing for a possible public stock listing (IPO) in the future.
Why This Matters in Today’s Market
Artificial intelligence has become the main driver of global technology growth this year. The world’s biggest companies are investing billions to stay ahead in AI.
SoftBank has placed itself right at the center of this shift. Masayoshi Son has made AI the top priority for all future investments by the group.
Final Thoughts
This completed $40 billion investment confirms OpenAI as one of the most well-funded AI companies in the world. It also shows how much money is flowing into artificial intelligence, not just for software, but for the infrastructure needed to power it.
SoftBank’s move sends a clear message: AI is no longer the future — it is happening now.