SoftBank’s SB Energy Offers OpenAI $5.5 Billion in Warrants for Data Center Deal

SoftBank Group, led by founder Masayoshi Son, has made OpenAI central to its drive to become a leading investor in artificial intelligence. On Feb. 27, the Japanese conglomerate agreed to invest another $30 billion through SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which would lift its cumulative OpenAI investment to $64.6 billion and its stake to about 13%. The commitment, alongside spending on data centers, chips and computing capacity, has sharply increased SoftBank’s need for long-term funding.

On Aug. 24, SoftBank filed plans to issue 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion) of seven-year unsecured bonds, the largest retail bond offering by a single issuer in Japan. The notes, aimed mainly at individual investors, carry an indicative coupon of 4.30% to 4.90%; pricing is due Sept. 4, subscriptions run Sept. 7-16, and payment is set for Sept. 17. On Aug. 28, SoftBank was also reported to be seeking a $10 billion loan to refinance a $40 billion bridge facility used for its OpenAI investment and due in March 2027.

OpenAI’s race to train increasingly capable models has made land, electricity and financing as critical as advanced chips. SoftBank Group’s SB Energy combines power development with data-center construction, positioning it as a key infrastructure partner. OpenAI and SoftBank each invested $500 million in the company on Jan. 9, 2026. Nvidia’s expanded role as chip supplier, investor and credit backstop underscores both the capital intensity of AI infrastructure and concerns over interdependent financing among major industry players.

Nvidia said on Aug. 17, 2026, it would invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy and guarantee as much as $105 billion of OpenAI’s lease and power-payment obligations. OpenAI signed a 20-year lease for the PORTS-Pike campus in Pike County, Ohio. The project will start with 4.25 gigawatts of IT capacity and can add 3.75 GW, supported by 10 GW of new generation. The first 800 megawatts are due in 2028, with construction expected to create 35,000 jobs.

SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son sees OpenAI as central to the company’s transformation into an AI-focused holding group. As of the end of December 2025, SoftBank had invested more than $30 billion and held a stake of about 11%. Further investment would increase its exposure to a single unlisted asset and raise its financial leverage as funding needs for model development and data centers continue to grow.

In March 2026, SoftBank was in talks for a bridge loan of up to $40 billion with a term of about 12 months, expected to be underwritten by four banks including JPMorgan. The financing would support $30 billion in new OpenAI investment to be disbursed in April, July and October. S&P Global Ratings has revised SoftBank’s credit outlook to negative. Its loan-to-value ratio rose to 20.6% by the end of 2025 and could breach the 25% financial threshold.