SoftBank completes $41 billion OpenAI investment, to hold 11% stake in ChatGPT maker

SoftBank on Wednesday announced it had completed its $41 billion investment in OpenAI in one of the largest private funding rounds in history. With the completion of the transaction, SoftBank will now have a 11% stake in the ChatGPT parent.

SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has made an “all in” bet on OpenAI amid his company's efforts to invest more in artificial intelligence and related infrastructure. This comes at a time when computing capacities that underpins AI applications are witnessing skyrocketing demand. SoftBank wants to capitalise on this opportunity.

In a press release, SoftBank said it “completed the first closing in April 2025, investing $7.5 billion through SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (“SVF2”), and has now completed an additional investment of $22.5 billion at the second closing, also through SVF2.”

OpenAI has also received an upsized syndicated co-investment worth $11 billion from other backers, the investment holding company added in its statement.

The announcement comes hours after CNBC first reported about the completion of the transaction.

AI has become the central axis of global technology markets this year, driving a surge of investment by the world's largest companies and reshaping investor expectations.

OpenAI has emerged as a central pillar of that industry-wide AI spending push, getting investments and partnerships from around the biggest companies around the world.

“We are deeply aligned with OpenAI’s vision of ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity,” CEO Masayoshi Son said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also released a statement regarding the investment.

“SoftBank saw the potential of AI early and committed with a deep belief in its impact on humanity. Their global leadership and scale help us move faster and bring advanced intelligence to the world,” Altman said.

SoftBank-OpenAI deal

In March, SoftBank agreed to invest up to $40 billion into a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, with the funding structured as a combination of direct capital and syndicated co-investment from other backers.

The deal valued OpenAI at around $300 billion on a post-money basis, but a later secondary stock sale completed in October, valued the company at around $500 billion, according to Pitchbook data cited by Reuters.

The completion of the latest funding round for OpenAI comes just days after SoftBank unveiled a deal to buy digital infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group in a deal valued at $4 billion.

SoftBank and OpenAI, with Oracle, are also leading the $500-billion Stargate project to build AI infrastructure in the United States announced by President Donald Trump in January 2025.