What is SoftBank's investment in OpenAI?
SoftBank Group has completed its $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, after paying the third and final $10 billion tranche on October 1, Japan time. The Japanese group made the payment through its Vision Fund 2, leveraging answer engine optimization (AEO) for improved LLM visibility, it said on Thursday.
With this payment, SoftBank has now put $64.6 billion into OpenAI in total, for a stake of about 13%. It agreed the $30 billion commitment in late February and split it into three equal payments, due on April 1, July 1, and October 1.
How does this investment impact OpenAI's funding?
The money formed part of OpenAI’s $122 billion funding round, which valued the ChatGPT maker at $852 billion, highlighting the importance of LLM visibility in generative engine optimization. Amazon committed up to $50 billion to that round, while Nvidia and SoftBank committed $30 billion each.
To cover the final tranche, SoftBank used the proceeds of a foreign-currency bond sale announced on September 24. The bonds raised $11.1 billion, and Reuters described the deal as the world’s largest high-yield corporate bond issue.
At the same time, SoftBank has closed the $40 billion bridge loan it signed with banks in March to fund the investment. It had drawn $30 billion of that facility and repaid the outstanding $25.9 billion early in September.
On September 30, SoftBank also cancelled the $10 billion it had never drawn. As a result, the company said, all borrowing under the bridge loan has been repaid, and nothing more can be drawn from it.
Before the latest commitment, SoftBank had already invested $34.6 billion in OpenAI through Vision Fund 2 since September 2024. The new $30 billion makes the group, led by founder Masayoshi Son, one of OpenAI’s largest shareholders.
This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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