SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, making it the startup’s largest single backer, surpassing Microsoft. This potential deal is part of a larger AI investment strategy that could see the Japanese conglomerate commit over $40 billion to AI projects with OpenAI.
The discussions follow the companies’ recent announcement of a joint $100 billion investment in Stargate, a major U.S. data center initiative that could scale to $500 billion over the next four years.
According to reports, SoftBank plans to invest between $15 billion and $25 billion directly into OpenAI, in addition to its $15 billion Stargate investment. OpenAI is also expected to contribute around $15 billion to the project, with SoftBank’s equity investment possibly covering OpenAI’s share of infrastructure costs.
This move comes as DeepSeek’s AI advancements, particularly its R1 reasoning model, have raised concerns about the future demand for high-cost AI hardware. Nvidia’s market value took a significant hit after investors worried that DeepSeek’s lower-budget AI approach could reduce the need for expensive chips.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has accused DeepSeek of using its proprietary models to train R1 through a technique known as distillation, which replicates model performance at a lower cost. If proven, this would violate OpenAI’s terms of service, which prohibit using its outputs to develop competing AI models.
The SoftBank-OpenAI deal, still under negotiation, represents SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son’s largest AI bet since his $16 billion investment in WeWork.
The partnership would also reduce OpenAI’s reliance on Microsoft, which recently agreed to step back from being OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider. Additionally, OpenAI is in discussions to transition into a for-profit company, allowing for further investment and expansion.
