SoftBank Completes Massive $40 Billion Investment In ChatGPT Maker

SoftBank Group Corp. (OTC:SFTBY) (OTC:SFTBF) finalized its ambitious investment in OpenAI after months of aggressive maneuvering.

The Japanese conglomerate fulfilled its $40 billion investment commitment to OpenAI.

Sources close to the deal confirmed to CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday that the Japanese investment powerhouse transferred the final tranche of approximately $22 billion to $22.5 billion last week.

Also Read: SoftBank Buys DigitalBridge In $4 Billion AI Infrastructure Play

SoftBank earlier made an investment of $8 billion and the organization of a $10 billion syndicate for the ChatGPT parent.

SoftBank now holds a stake exceeding 10% in OpenAI.

The company finalized the deal at a pre-money valuation of $260 billion.

OpenAI plans to direct a significant portion of this capital toward “Stargate,” an artificial intelligence infrastructure joint venture with SoftBank and Oracle Inc. (NYSE:ORCL).

Asset Sales Fuel AI Ambitions

To finance this aggressive entry into the AI sector, SoftBank has undertaken a sweeping liquidity strategy.

Prior reports indicated SoftBank scrambling to raise about $22.5 billion for OpenAI by the end of the year, selling assets, tightening investment activity, and weighing new borrowing as the cost of competing in artificial intelligence surges.

The company has already sold its entire Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) stake and unloaded billions of dollars’ worth of T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) shares, while sharply slowing new Vision Fund deals and requiring CEO Masayoshi Son’s approval for large investments.

SoftBank is also exploring additional asset sales, preparing a potential PayPay IPO, and considering margin loans backed by its soaring Arm Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARM) stake.

Read Next:

• Microsoft Builds Massive AI ‘Super Factory’ In Atlanta To Power OpenAI And Elon Musk’s xAI

Image via Shutterstock