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SoftBank Group has officially completed a massive $41 billion investment in OpenAI, marking one of the largest private funding rounds in global technology history. The deal gives the Japanese conglomerate an estimated 11% stake in the company behind ChatGPT, further solidifying SoftBank’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence and related digital infrastructure.
The investment reflects SoftBank founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son’s long-standing vision that artificial intelligence will redefine the global economy. Son has described his strategy as an “all in” bet on AI, focusing not only on leading AI developers like OpenAI but also on the massive computing infrastructure required to support next-generation models. Demand for data centers, cloud computing, and advanced chips has surged as AI adoption accelerates across industries.
According to SoftBank, the company completed an additional $22.5 billion investment this week, following a $7.5 billion contribution made in April. OpenAI also secured an upsized syndicated co-investment of $11 billion from other backers, highlighting strong investor confidence in the company’s long-term growth. In March, SoftBank had agreed to invest up to $40 billion into a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, structuring the deal through a mix of direct capital and syndicated financing.
The funding valued OpenAI at approximately $300 billion on a post-money basis at the time of the agreement. However, a subsequent secondary share sale completed in October reportedly pushed OpenAI’s valuation closer to $500 billion, according to PitchBook data. CNBC was the first outlet to report the completion of the funding round.
SoftBank’s OpenAI investment comes shortly after it announced a separate $4 billion deal to acquire DigitalBridge Group, a digital infrastructure investor, reinforcing its broader strategy to dominate AI-driven infrastructure. OpenAI is also a key participant in the planned “Stargate” project, a large-scale, multi-year data center initiative involving partners such as Oracle and other major stakeholders.
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape global technology markets in 2025, SoftBank’s bold investment positions it at the center of the AI boom, with OpenAI emerging as a cornerstone of the industry’s rapid expansion.
