SoftBank finalises $41 billion OpenAI investment

SoftBank Group has finalised a $41 billion investment in OpenAI, acquiring an approximate 11% stake in the ChatGPT developer. The funding round is one of the largest ever private investments, according to a Reuters report on the matter.

The Japanese conglomerate's latest investment includes an additional $22.5 billion, following a $7.5 billion commitment made in April. An upsized syndicated co-investment from other backers added another $11 billion. The deal is part of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's strategy to make an "all-in" bet on artificial intelligence, adds the Reuters report.

The investment follows a March agreement where SoftBank committed up to $40 billion to a for-profit subsidiary of OpenAI. The initial funding round valued OpenAI at about $300 billion, though a secondary stock sale in October reportedly valued the company at roughly $500 billion.

This move is part of a broader surge in AI investment by major tech firms. OpenAI is also a central partner in 'Stargate', a large-scale, multi-year data centre project with Oracle and other stakeholders, aimed at supporting next-generation AI models. SoftBank's investment comes just days after it announced a separate $4 billion deal to acquire digital infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group.