Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has captured attention with a large-scale financial investment in OpenAI, aiming to strengthen its position in the global artificial intelligence race. The company has succeeded in becoming one of the leading institutional investors outside the United States in a short period.
According to editorial reports, SoftBank is in the process of finalizing a financing agreement with OpenAI valued at approximately $22.5 billion. This move comes just days after it joined a $19 billion artificial intelligence mega-project in Japan.
Reportedly, to secure the investment, SoftBank has sold off other assets, including divesting from Nvidia and T-Mobile shares. Simultaneously, the company has laid off about a fifth of its workforce and secured margin loans on Arm Holdings.
SoftBank was previously among the key investors in the Stargate initiative, supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, which aims to create large data centers in the U.S. in collaboration with Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI. This project is intended to solidify America's leadership in artificial intelligence.
In financial circles, SoftBank's Vision Fund structures are known for artificially inflating market valuations. The company's previous investment experiences are marked by sharp market corrections in WeWork, Uber, and other large projects.