SoftBank Group has completed its $40 billion investment in OpenAI, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday, marking one of the largest private financing rounds in history and deepening founder Masayoshi Son’s bet on artificial intelligence.
SoftBank has been building one of the world’s largest private technology investment programs, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure such as data centers.
Artificial intelligence became the centerpiece of global technology markets this year, driving an investment boom by the world’s largest companies and reshaping investor expectations.
In March, SoftBank agreed to invest up to $40 billion in a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI, with the financing structured as a combination of direct equity and syndicated co-investment from other backers.
More context: Softbank will buy a US investor for $4 billion to promote AI
The deal valued OpenAI at about $300 billion on a post-money basis, but a secondary stock sale completed in October valued the company at about $500 billion, according to Pitchbook data.
SoftBank Group sent the final investment of between $22 billion and $22.5 billion after having syndicated $10 billion and invested $8 billion in OpenAI, the source said.
CNBC was the first outlet to report the news earlier in the day.
OpenAI became a central pillar of that industry-wide AI spending push.
The creator of ChatGPT, along with Oracle and other players, planned a project called “Stargate,” a vast, multi-year data center initiative aimed at supporting next-generation AI models, backed by big investors including SoftBank.
With information from Reuters
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