SoftBank Races to Complete $22.5 Billion OpenAI Funding by Year-End

The SoftBank Group Corp. is moving to complete a $22.5 billion funding commitment to OpenAI by the end of the year. The company is raising funds through several measures, including asset sales and potential borrowing against its stake in Arm Holdings.

SoftBank has already sold its $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia and a $4.8 billion portion of its T-Mobile U.S. holdings. It has also slowed dealmaking at its Vision Fund, requiring CEO Masayoshi Son’s approval for transactions exceeding $50 million. The group is preparing an initial public offering for its payments platform PayPay, now expected in the first quarter of next year after a delay caused by the U.S. government shutdown.

To meet its financial obligations, SoftBank may draw from its expanded margin loan capacity of $11.5 billion backed by Arm shares. The company reported ¥4.2 trillion ($27.16 billion) in cash as of September 30 and continues to hold a 4% stake in T-Mobile U.S., valued at approximately $11 billion.

The funding is part of a larger investment agreement reached earlier in the year, valuing OpenAI at $300 billion. The remaining funds are expected to be delivered by the end of 2025. OpenAI plans to use the capital to support its growing computing needs and expand its AI infrastructure projects, including the large-scale Stargate data center initiative.