Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI. This could make SoftBank the largest investor in OpenAI, surpassing Microsoft. The potential deal is being considered after both companies announced a joint $100 billion investment in the Stargate project to develop AI data centers.
SoftBank plans to invest between $15 and $25 billion directly in OpenAI, in addition to its $15 billion allocated for Stargate. OpenAI, in turn, plans to invest about $15 billion in Stargate. SoftBank’s investments could cover OpenAI’s infrastructure commitments.
The negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of Chinese company DeepSeek launching its new AI model R1. This has raised concerns in the markets, as the model was developed on a modest budget. OpenAI stated that DeepSeek used its models to train R1, which violates its terms of service.
The deal with SoftBank, which has not yet been finalized, could become the largest investment by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son since his $16 billion investment in WeWork. It would also reduce OpenAI’s dependence on Microsoft for computing resources, as Microsoft has agreed to relinquish its status as OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider.
