SoftBank Group, led by founder Masayoshi Son, has finalized a $40 billion investment in OpenAI, acquiring just over a 10% ownership stake in the AI company at an estimated $260 billion pre-money valuation. The transaction closed with a final payment of approximately $22 billion, marking one of the largest single investments ever made in an AI platform.
The funding was partially enabled by SoftBank’s exit from a $5.8 billion Nvidia position, signaling a strategic shift away from hardware exposure toward direct stakes in foundational AI software platforms. The investment strengthens OpenAI’s ability to accelerate large-scale compute and data center expansion, reinforce projects such as Stargate, and position the company for a potential future IPO.
The deal underscores a broader market transition from speculative AI spending toward long-term, infrastructure-level investment as global competition intensifies among OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic.
