SoftBank shifts OpenAI bet
Spanish‑language reporting says SoftBank has reduced Nvidia exposure and is increasing its stake in OpenAI, reflecting a strategic view that value in AI may migrate from chips toward platforms and models. The report frames an investment repositioning that could influence where investors expect long‑term capture of AI economics. (blog.wearedrew.co)
SoftBank has moved billions deeper into OpenAI after cashing out of Nvidia, turning a chip wager into a platform wager. (group.softbank) (cnbc.com) SoftBank said on December 31, 2025 that it completed an additional $22.5 billion investment in OpenAI, part of the up to $40 billion commitment it announced on March 31, 2025. OpenAI said that 2025 round valued the company at $300 billion post-money. (group.softbank) (openai.com) The shift accelerated again on February 27, 2026, when SoftBank said it agreed to make $30.0 billion of follow-on investments in OpenAI through Vision Fund 2. SoftBank said that would bring its cumulative OpenAI investment to $64.6 billion and roughly 13% ownership after completion. (group.softbank) SoftBank then borrowed against that plan. On March 27, 2026, the company said it signed a $40.0 billion bridge facility, and on April 1 it said it had already drawn $10.0 billion to complete the first tranche of the new OpenAI investment. (group.softbank 1) (group.softbank 2) The Nvidia side of the trade is concrete too. SoftBank told investors it sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October 2025 for $5.83 billion, exiting the position entirely. (cnbc.com) That sale did not end SoftBank’s ties to Nvidia’s business. OpenAI said Nvidia joined its March 31, 2026 funding round, and SoftBank’s Stargate data-center project with OpenAI and Oracle still depends on large amounts of computing hardware. (openai.com) (group.softbank) The bigger change is where SoftBank is placing ownership. Nvidia sells the chips that train and run artificial intelligence systems, while OpenAI sells the models, products, and developer tools that sit on top of that hardware. (openai.com) OpenAI has used fresh capital to argue that the model-and-platform layer is becoming a business of its own. On March 31, 2026, the company said it had closed $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion post-money valuation and was generating $2 billion in revenue per month. (openai.com) That does not settle the debate over where profits in artificial intelligence will concentrate. Reuters reported on February 27, 2026 that Amazon invested $50 billion and both Nvidia and SoftBank invested $30 billion in OpenAI’s latest round, showing that chipmakers, cloud companies, and model companies are still financing one another at the same time. (usnews.com) For now, Masayoshi Son is making the balance-sheet version of that argument. SoftBank is still helping fund the machines, but its largest new checks are buying a bigger claim on the company trying to turn those machines into a mass-market business. (group.softbank 1) (group.softbank 2)
