TOKYO, January 28, 2026, 22:15 (JST)
- SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI, a person familiar with the matter said
- The money would form part of a broader raise of up to $100 billion that could value OpenAI at about $830 billion
- SoftBank shares rose in Tokyo and the company declined to comment
SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as an additional $30 billion in OpenAI, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, as the Japanese group presses deeper into the race to fund the most expensive parts of artificial intelligence. (Reuters)
The timing is about money and speed. OpenAI is burning cash to train and run AI models, and rivals have pushed the pace, with Alphabet’s Google stepping up pressure in consumer and enterprise tools. Reuters has reported OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees the company had entered a “code red” phase to improve ChatGPT. (Reuters)
The new SoftBank investment would be part of a funding round that could raise up to $100 billion for OpenAI and value it at about $830 billion, the person said. In December, SoftBank said it completed a $41 billion investment in OpenAI that would give it an 11% stake. (Reuters)
The Wall Street Journal first reported the latest talks. SoftBank’s shares were up about 3.5% in Tokyo morning trade and the company declined to comment. (The Economic Times)
SoftBank has had to work the balance sheet to keep up. Analyst Mary Pollock at CreditSights said SoftBank’s cash needs were “substantial” as it piled commitments into OpenAI and other deals, while Rolf Bulk at New Street Research said selling Nvidia was “large, liquid, and easy to monetise” as SoftBank shifted capital toward OpenAI. (Reuters)
A big reason is infrastructure. OpenAI has framed its Stargate effort as a $500 billion buildout of AI infrastructure, including data centers used for “training” (teaching models with huge datasets) and “inference” (running the models to answer queries). OpenAI has said the project aims to begin deploying $100 billion immediately. (OpenAI)
The size of the planned buildout has dragged energy and real estate into the AI story too. Earlier this month, Reuters reported OpenAI and SoftBank each agreed to invest $500 million into SB Energy for a 1.2-gigawatt data center in Texas tied to Stargate expansion. (Reuters)
The Financial Times reported SoftBank is close to agreeing the additional $30 billion and that OpenAI is seeking up to $100 billion in fresh capital, with Amazon, Nvidia and sovereign wealth funds among possible backers. The FT also said OpenAI surpassed $20 billion in annualised revenue in 2025 but still runs at a loss because of model and infrastructure costs. (Financial Times)
The Journal reported OpenAI is also courting Middle Eastern sovereign wealth and venture capital funds and has discussed an initial public offering, or IPO, which would list its shares on a public stock exchange. It said OpenAI’s current investors include Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures and the UAE’s MGX fund. (The Wall Street Journal)
But the talks are not public and the numbers can move, especially at this scale. Investors have started to argue over whether the returns will match the spending, with SoftBank’s Vision Fund CFO Navneet Govil saying AI companies are generating “meaningful revenues” and that heavy capital spending is “driven by demand.” (Brecorder)
