SoftBank is in talks to inject up to $25 billion directly into OpenAI, positioning the Japanese tech conglomerate to become the ChatGPT maker’s largest financial backer, according to initial reporting from the Financial Times on Wednesday evening.
If the deal goes through, the investment would eclipse Microsoft’s $13 billion stake and mark SoftBank’s most ambitious artificial intelligence bet to date.
Details of the deal between SoftBank and Open surfaced following a week of critical changes in the artificial intelligence sector.
Last week, SoftBank committed some $15 billion to Stargate, a $500 billion data center project involving OpenAI, Oracle, and investment firm MGX.
The project was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking from the White House, President Trump said that the project would “create over 100,000 American jobs,” with plans to build out data centers in Texas.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will serve as chairman for the Stargate project.
The widening gyre
The massive capital injection signals a strategic pivot for OpenAI as it seeks to reduce its dependence on Microsoft’s computing infrastructure.
As part of the Stargate agreement, Microsoft
