SoftBank and OpenAI have announced the creation of SB OpenAI Japan, a joint venture aimed at providing AI services to corporate customers. The partnership was unveiled following a meeting between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank leader Masayoshi Son, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday.
The new entity will be co-owned by OpenAI and a company established by SoftBank and its domestic telecom arm. As part of the deal, SoftBank will invest $3 billion to integrate OpenAI’s technology across its various businesses. Additionally, the Japanese conglomerate is planning an investment of $15 billion to $25 billion in OpenAI, further strengthening its AI initiatives.
SoftBank has also committed $15 billion to Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI and Oracle, designed to expand AI capacity in the U.S. The move comes amid growing competition from China’s DeepSeek, raising concerns over escalating AI investments globally.
