SoftBank obtains $40 billion loan for OpenAI investment

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group has obtained a $40 billion bridge loan to support its investments in OpenAI, and for general corporate purposes, the Japanese investment conglomerate said last week.

The unsecured loan matures in March 2027 and was arranged with lenders including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and MUFG Bank, as per a Reuters report on the matter.

SoftBank had previously agreed to invest $30 billion in OpenAI through its Vision Fund 2. The company, led by founder Masayoshi Son, continues to deepen its ties with the ChatGPT maker as competition intensifies in the generative AI sector.

Son has been making increasingly aggressive bets on AI after years of volatility in SoftBank's Vision Fund performance, further states the Reuters report. The company and OpenAI were among the backers of the Stargate Project last year, which aimed to invest up to $500 billion over four years in US AI infrastructure.