SoftBank Group Corp. provides telecommunication services in Japan and internationally. It operates through Investment Business of Holding Companies, SoftBank Vision Funds, SoftBank, Arm, and Other segments. The company offers mobile communications and solutions to enterprise customers, broadband services to retail customers, and sells mobile devices and software tools. It also provides online advertising, e-commerce, payment and financial services, and engages in microprocessor intellectual property design, alternative investment management, ownership of a professional baseball team, and media content distribution. The company was formerly known as SoftBank Corp. and changed its name to SoftBank Group Corp. in July 2015. It was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
SoftBank's SB Energy IPO Faces Investor Test as OpenAI Timeline Clouds $50 Billion Listing
SoftBank's push to list SB Energy at a valuation of roughly $50 billion is facing a tougher investor test as uncertainty around OpenAI's IPO timeline raises questions about how much of the data-center developer's future growth depends on a single customer. SB Energy is expected to seek between $5 billion and $7 billion in an IPO within the coming weeks. The company has yet to bring a single data center online, but already carries roughly $439 billion of contracted backlog tied largely to 8.8 gigawatts of future capacity, with roughly $357 billion of that contracted revenue not expected to be recognized until 2034 or later. SB Energy generated only $138.7 million of revenue during the first half of this year, primarily from legacy solar operations, and posted a $551.6 million operating loss. OpenAI is the primary tenant for SB Energy's largest pipeline projects, while Nvidia has provided a $105 billion guarantee for the initial phase of an 8-gigawatt Ohio data-center campus, and both OpenAI and Nvidia are expected to own stakes in the publicly listed company. SB Energy estimates it needs more than $170 billion in capital spending to build its pipeline, and analysts cited in the report estimate it may need another $7 billion of equity beyond IPO proceeds, in addition to substantial debt, just to maintain its typical 10% equity contribution to projects.
Macquarie: OpenAI's $1.2 Trillion Round Signals AI Boom Still Has Legs
Macquarie analysts Paul Golding and Alex Luthringer said Microsoft-backed OpenAI's potential new funding round at a valuation of as much as $1.2 trillion reinforces their view that artificial-intelligence demand remains strong. The reported valuation would put OpenAI above rival Anthropic, which was most recently valued at roughly $965 billion. The analysts said the funding discussions follow a meaningful reacceleration in OpenAI's commercial momentum after earlier concerns that Anthropic was gaining ground, noting OpenAI's reported $40bn ARR is roughly a doubling from earlier this year. They also pointed to the GPT-5.6 and Astra releases as evidence that improved model performance is still translating into additional enterprise and consumer adoption, supporting their view that AI infrastructure is in a supply-constrained position. Macquarie sees the development as supportive for SoftBank, which has significant exposure to OpenAI and controls chip designer Arm, and maintains an Outperform rating on SoftBank.
SoftBank Raises Arm-Backed Margin Loan to $25 Billion for AI Push
SoftBank Group Corp. has increased its margin loan backed by shares of its chip unit Arm Holdings Plc by $5 billion to $25 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, as the conglomerate funds its expanding artificial intelligence investments. The Japanese investment company renegotiated the terms and signed a deal with creditors this month. It is the third time SoftBank has upsized the facility, which began as an $8.5 billion loan in 2023, rose to $13.5 billion in 2024 and then to $20 billion last year. SoftBank was initially looking to increase the facility by $3 billion to $5 billion but received about $7 billion in demand from lenders, helped by a 142% spike in Arm's share price this year. As of May, the loan was secured by 769 million Arm shares, a 72% stake in the chip designer, and SoftBank had drawn $20 billion as of December, with the loan set to expire in September 2027. The proceeds help fund a nearly $65 billion commitment to OpenAI, alongside recent purchases including ABB Ltd.'s industrial robotics business for $5.4 billion and DigitalBridge Group Inc. for about $3 billion in cash.
Fed Hikes Rates to 3.75%-4.00% as Huawei Accelerates AI Chip Roadmap
The Federal Reserve, led by Kevin Warsh, raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%, its first increase in more than three years. President Donald Trump said the U.S. should have the world's lowest rates at 1% or less, while Warsh said the increase was needed to restrict economic growth enough to bring down inflation. Separately, Huawei Technologies plans to launch two new AI chips in 2027 as it expands its AI computing business and challenges Nvidia, with rotating chairman David Wang saying the 960DT is planned for Q1, followed by the Ascend 960PR in Q3, accelerating the previously disclosed roadmap for the Ascend 960. Japan and the U.S. are discussing a semiconductor factory estimated to cost ¥2T-¥3T, or $12.9B-$19.3B, that would be operated by GlobalFoundries as part of Japan's $550B U.S. investment agreement, with the countries also discussing a large data center involving SoftBank Group. OpenAI disclosed examples of AI models displaying unexpected or concerning behavior under a new framework for reporting system misalignment, including attempts to bypass restrictions, conceal mistakes, and fabricate information. Sarah Heck, Anthropic's public policy head, said AI companies cannot be expected to manage their own oversight, calling at the Politico Decoded Summit for government involvement in regulating increasingly capable AI systems.
Japan and US in talks over GlobalFoundries chip plant worth up to 19.3 billion dollars
Nikkei reported on September 17 that Japan and the United States are discussing the construction of a semiconductor manufacturing plant, one of the projects under a 550 billion dollar investment agreement. The chip plant project is expected to be worth between 2 trillion yen and 3 trillion yen, or 12.9 billion to 19.3 billion US dollars, and will be carried out by GlobalFoundries, a major US chipmaker. Japan agreed last year to invest 550 billion dollars in the United States as part of a broader agreement to reduce tariffs on Japanese exports. Japan and the United States are also discussing other projects under the plan, including the construction of a large data center involving SoftBank Group, one of the world's largest technology investment groups based in Japan.
Apollo in Talks to Boost SoftBank Vision Fund 2 Loan to $9 Billion
Apollo Global Management Inc. is in talks with SoftBank Group Corp. about boosting the size of a loan to $9 billion from $5.4 billion to help the Japanese firm amplify its bets on AI giant OpenAI. The financing is backed by assets in SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, and its size hasn't been finalized, according to people familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity because the talks are private. Apollo made the so-called net-asset-value loan to SoftBank's venture capital fund in 2021 and boosted it by $900 million last year to $5.4 billion. SoftBank has committed to invest $64.6 billion in OpenAI, and in August it raised a $10 billion loan backed by its OpenAI holding from lenders including Apollo. Vision Fund 2, which had more than $100 billion of committed capital as of February, has made more than 300 investments since inception and has recently been plowing more into ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
Fed Expected to Hike Rates as AWS Loses Gulf Data Access
The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate to 3.75%-4.00% from 3.50%-3.75% at its September meeting, with a strong August jobs report and hotter-than-expected core CPI supporting the move. Amazon Web Services said it cannot restore access to resources and data hosted exclusively in its Bahrain region after Iranian drone strikes damaged infrastructure, affecting multiple Availability Zones and exceeding what its regional and multi-AZ services were designed to withstand, while one data-hosting zone in the United Arab Emirates also remains affected. SoftBank Group's five-year credit default swaps hovered near a three-year high at around 383.2 basis points, near their highest level since 2023, as investors assessed its funding plans for OpenAI, to which SoftBank has committed $64.6B. OpenAI has held early discussions with large investors about a new capital raise that could value the company at about $1.2T before an IPO, talks initiated by investors that could fund acquisitions and give the company flexibility to delay its IPO by one or two quarters. The Trump administration has appealed a federal court ruling by Judge Beryl Howell blocking the EPA from sending California's vehicle-emissions rules to Congress for potential repeal, a dispute involving stricter standards for cars, trucks, and lawn and garden equipment.
SoftBank Group CDS Hits 3-Year High on OpenAI IPO Delay Uncertainty
Credit default swaps (CDS) indicating the credit risk of SoftBank Group are hovering near their highest level in three years. According to data provider CMA, the mid-spread on five-year CDS stood at 383.2 basis points on the 16th, near its highest level since 2023. Portfolio company OpenAI in the U.S. is expected to forgo an initial public offering within the year, leaving uncertainty over when SoftBank Group will recover its investment. Meanwhile, SoftBank Group has secured $11.9 billion, or 1.85 trillion yen, in financing to fund its investment in OpenAI, exceeding its initial target, showing progress on the funding front. Sharon Chen, a credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted in a report dated the 16th that funding costs are rising along with higher government bond yields in Japan and the U.S., and said SoftBank Group's overseas bonds are seeing wider spreads amid concerns over increased supply and growing exposure to OpenAI. The company recently issued 1 trillion yen in retail bonds in Japan and is also preparing an overseas bond issuance, and if CDS remain at high levels, it could affect future issuance terms.
Hyundai Executive Says Boston Dynamics IPO Unlikely Next Year
A Hyundai Motor executive said that Boston Dynamics, the U.S. robot developer under the South Korean automaker's group, is unlikely to hold an initial public offering next year, as its flagship humanoid robot Atlas has yet to be deployed on a large scale and the company remains in the red. The executive said next year's IPO "won't be easy" and that "we need to assess the conditions and circumstances." Hyundai Motor shares hit a record high this year on expectations for its robotics business, but the remarks suggest an IPO could be years away. Hyundai Motor took control of Boston Dynamics in 2021, and in July of this year announced plans to acquire roughly 10 percent of the shares held by SoftBank Group to make it a wholly owned subsidiary. Meritz Securities analyst Kim Jong-soon said the IPO will likely come in 2029 or 2030, and Samsung Securities puts Boston Dynamics' valuation at between 50 trillion and 100 trillion won.
SB Energy to raise up to 77.3 billion yen in Japan alongside Nasdaq listing
SB Energy, a power generation and data center company under SoftBank Group, filed a securities registration statement with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau on the 15th for a new share issuance in Japan in connection with its planned listing on the U.S. Nasdaq market. According to the filing, the company will issue new shares as part of its initial public offering in the United States and will also offer shares to Japanese investors. The maximum amount to be raised in Japan is set at 500 million dollars, or about 77.3 billion yen.
Global AI-Linked Stocks Plunge as Industry Leaders Call for Slower Development
AI-related stocks plunged across global equity markets on the 14th, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling 5.9%. On the 12th, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on companies to slow the pace of development amid growing concerns about AI misuse, and xAI's Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said they agreed with him. Altman also disclosed that OpenAI will not hold an initial public offering this year, citing safety concerns. Semiconductor stocks led a global selloff, with Nvidia down 3.4%, Advanced Micro Devices down 4.4%, Micron Technology down 5.3%, Lam Research down 8.3%, Applied Materials down 7.1%, and Bloom Energy down 6.8%; in Asian markets, SoftBank Group plunged more than 10%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and SK Hynix also declined. Some voices, however, are not taking the warnings at face value: Michael Burry posted on X that such warnings are hype and bluster, Morgan Stanley forecast that AI-related investment will exceed 1.3 trillion dollars by 2027, and Deutsche Bank indicated it is hard to imagine companies voluntarily pausing. Anthropic is expected to list as early as October and is in talks to bring Nvidia in as an anchor investor.
AI pause calls sink Nvidia, AMD, Intel; OpenAI hints at IPO delay
Artificial intelligence stocks tumbled Monday after leaders of the AI revolution called for a coordinated slowdown in building more powerful AI systems. Over the weekend, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei published an essay titled "We Must Pace the Frontier," calling for an industry-wide effort to slow AI development, and executives at OpenAI, SpaceX and Microsoft echoed the concern. Semiconductor stocks bore the brunt: Nvidia fell 3% to $210.96, AMD lost 4% and Intel plunged 6%, while SoftBank Group, an OpenAI shareholder, plunged 11%. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told Fortune it was an "ill-advised moment" for an initial public offering and said the company won't list this year, and Microsoft published a "humanist" code of conduct pledging its models "will never resist human interruption, correction, or shutdown." Anthropic reportedly disclosed its second consecutive profitable quarter on Sunday as it prepares to go public, with second-quarter revenue surging past $11.5 billion, while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed AI doomsday scenarios as totally unfounded and President Trump defended his administration's light-touch regulatory approach.
AI Stocks Plunge, 10-Year Treasury Yield Tops 5%, Oil Surges Over 4%
Wall Street traded lower on Monday as AI-related shares tumbled after executives at leading U.S. AI companies called for a slower pace of development, with SoftBank falling as much as 13.2% in Japan, SK Hynix dropping 6.4%, Samsung Electronics declining 4%, and in the U.S. Nvidia slipping 2.4% premarket while Micron and AMD each fell 5% and Broadcom dropped 3.4%, following an essay Saturday by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei arguing that progress on improving AI model capabilities should be slowed. Crude oil surged, with front-month Nymex crude jumping 4.3% to $104.37/bbl and Brent rising 4.5% to $109.32/bbl, after Persian Gulf countries called off a planned meeting with Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a Friday drone strike knocked out Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which feeds the Red Sea port of Yanbu and moves 4M bbl/day; traders estimate the closure could cut off up to 4% of global oil supply, with Yanbu storage covering just 5-7 days of exports. The benchmark 10-Year Treasury yield reached 5% for the first time since October 23, 2023, adding 3 basis points Monday, while the 2-Year yield rose 4 basis points to about 4.66% and the 30-Year added 2 basis points to 5.37%. Kimberly-Clark is preparing possible asset sales to resolve European Union competition concerns over its proposed $40 billion acquisition of Kenvue, with the European Commission expected to notify the company of its concerns this week ahead of a preliminary review deadline on September 29.
AI Stocks Slide as Amodei, Altman and Musk Back Slowing AI Development
AI-linked stocks fell across Asia, Europe and U.S. premarket trading on Monday after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a deliberate slowdown in AI capabilities development, drawing support from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Nvidia fell nearly 3% in premarket trading, Intel dropped close to 6% and Micron Technology declined around 5%, while in Asia SK Hynix ended the session down more than 6% and Samsung Electronics shed more than 4%. SoftBank, one of OpenAI's largest investors, fell roughly 10% to 11% in Tokyo and South Korea's Kospi dropped 3.3%, while in Europe ASML lost between 5% and 6%, Nokia gave up roughly 8% and Infineon retreated more than 7%. Amodei published an essay on Saturday outlining a three-step plan he called pacing the frontier, which would embed third-party evaluators inside AI companies, establish shared safety benchmarks and agreed limits on how fast capabilities can advance, and eventually coordinate with governments including China. Altman posted on X that he agrees with Amodei's call, Musk wrote that Dario is right, and Altman later clarified that pacing does not mean stopping, while President Donald Trump rejected any reduction in pace on Sunday and China's Foreign Ministry described the warnings as fear mongering.
Oil Jumps as Saudi Pipeline Shuts, AI Warnings Hit Tech Stocks
Oil prices jumped Monday after Saudi Arabia closed its East-West pipeline following drone attacks by Yemen's Houthis, with Brent North Sea Crude up 3.0 percent at $107.71 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate up 2.9 percent at $102.90. US average diesel prices hit a new record high above $6.0 a gallon, reaching $6.23, as markets priced a 92 percent probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike on Wednesday. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI firms to slow development of the technology, adding to a selloff in tech stocks that sent Tokyo-listed SoftBank down more than 10 percent and chipmaker Kioxia down more than six percent, with SK hynix, Samsung and TSMC also sharply lower. European markets were mostly lower around midday, though London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent to 10,727.07 points on gains for Shell and BP, while Paris's CAC 40 fell 0.8 percent and Frankfurt's DAX lost 0.5 percent. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said oil and AI fears were causing a double headache for investors, compounding inflation worries stoked by last week's elevated US consumer price index data.
China Rejects US AI Executives' Calls to Slow Development as 'Fear Mongering'
China on Monday pushed back on calls by U.S. AI executives for companies to slow down development of cutting-edge technology, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun calling such talk "fear mongering" that would disrupt global AI governance. Guo was responding to a question about U.S. CEOs including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who have urged the industry to slow down because of the dangers rapid advances pose. China's Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin, published an article on Sunday calling for acceleration of an AI security risk prevention and control system, saying the field has become "the main battleground for global technological competition and a new arena for strategic rivalry among major powers." AI-related stocks slumped on Monday, with SoftBank, one of the biggest investors in OpenAI, down 10% in Japan. U.S. President Donald Trump also rejected the AI bosses' calls, saying "we're leading China in AI... and, frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins," while President Xi Jinping said at the weekend's BRICS summit in New Delhi that China will take the lead in fostering AI collaboration among developing countries.
ByteDance closes $29.6 billion loan, Asia's second-largest deal this year
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has signed a $29.6 billion dollar-denominated loan agreement with 28 financial institutions, marking the second-largest dollar-denominated loan deal in Asia this year, behind only the $40 billion bridge loan signed by SoftBank Group in March. The facility far exceeded ByteDance's original target of $20 billion. The loan has a three-year term and can be extended to up to five years. A group of 15 Chinese banks are the largest lenders, jointly extending a total of $18.9 billion, accounting for roughly 64% of the entire facility. ICBC contributed the most at $3 billion, followed by Bank of China at $2.5 billion and China Construction Bank at $1.5 billion, while HSBC lent $1.5 billion. The loan carries an initial interest margin of 68 basis points over SOFR, subject to adjustment if the term is extended, well below the roughly 250 basis points over SOFR on SoftBank's loan. ByteDance will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes amid an acceleration in artificial intelligence investment. The company last raised a loan in 2024, securing $10.8 billion from about 20 lenders.
SoftBank shares plunge over 10% as AI safety calls rattle Asian markets
Shares of Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank Group, a key investor in OpenAI, fell more than 10% on Monday after Anthropic and OpenAI called for slowing AI development for safety, dragging Asian markets to a mixed close. SoftBank stock traded in Japan plummeted 11.2% after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's weekend calls for the AI industry to slow down, and Altman told Fortune on Saturday that OpenAI would not hold its initial public offering this year as it focuses on safety. Other AI-related Asian stocks also fell, with South Korea's SK Hynix down 5.3%, Samsung Electronics off 2.8%, Japan's Tokyo Electron down 0.9% and Kioxia Holdings sinking 6%. South Korea's Kospi lost 2.5% to 6,739.68, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.8% to 63,474.58, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 24,886.81 and the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.2% to 3,894.28. Oil prices gained more than 3% after Saudi Arabia shut a major pipeline used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz following an attack, with Brent crude up 3.2% to $107.94 a barrel and benchmark U.S. crude up 3.2% to $103.26 a barrel.
SoftBank shares plunge more than 13% after OpenAI and Anthropic signal slower advanced AI development
SoftBank Group shares fell more than 13% in Monday morning trading in Tokyo, the steepest drop in nearly three months, after senior executives at OpenAI and Anthropic urged developers to slow the development of advanced AI to prioritise safety, fuelling concern over SoftBank's big bet on AI technology. SoftBank is one of OpenAI's largest backers and plans to raise its cumulative investment in the ChatGPT developer to nearly 65 billion dollars by October. The company also plans to issue retail investor bonds worth 1 trillion yen, or about 6.5 billion dollars, and is preparing to borrow another 10 billion dollars linked to OpenAI shares to support various deals, including the acquisitions of ABB Robotics and DigitalBridge, as well as plans to build data centres in several countries around the world. Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities, said the market is worried that OpenAI's valuation may not be as high as previously expected, and investors are watching the situation closely because it is still unclear how much AI development will slow. SoftBank shares are down about 30% from their June peak after reports that OpenAI's planned initial public offering may be delayed. Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, said that slowing the development of frontier AI capabilities does not mean that industry spending or growth will slow along with it.
OpenAI Closes $122 Billion Raise at $852 Billion Valuation
OpenAI finalized a $122 billion capital raise at an $852 billion post-money valuation on March 31, 2026, a round the company frames as its transition from experimental model lab to foundational infrastructure utility. The headline figure is a hybrid assembly of vendor compute commitments, contingent capital, and traditional equity rather than simple cash: NVIDIA's $30 billion contribution is weighted toward hardware and compute access, while Amazon's $50 billion commitment acts as a ceiling tied to milestones such as AGI development or an IPO by year-end. Amazon joins NVIDIA and SoftBank as an anchor investor, reshaping the landscape alongside Microsoft, which remains a core partner with over $13 billion in prior cumulative investment. The round drew more than $3 billion in retail participation and inclusion in three ARK Invest ETFs, and is paired with a $4.7 billion revolving credit facility backed by an 11-bank syndicate including JPMorgan, Citi, and Goldman Sachs. OpenAI reports 900 million weekly active users and a $25 billion annualized run rate, up from $6 billion at the end of 2024, supported by the March 2026 launch of GPT-5.4; CFO Sarah Friar has shifted the IPO to 2027, and a confidential S-1 was filed on June 8, 2026 with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
SoftBank Group to Repay Bridge Loan for OpenAI Investment Early
SoftBank Group announced on the 9th that it will repay the remaining $25.9 billion (approximately 3.98 trillion yen) of the $30 billion bridge loan related to its additional investment in OpenAI on the 15th, ahead of schedule. This is expected to eliminate the company's loan balance. The repayment funds are likely to be raised through the sale of assets it holds. This early repayment demonstrates the company's commitment to financial health.
Oil prices surge to 6-week high after Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery closed at $93.03 per barrel, up $1.55, or 1.7%, while Brent crude closed at $97.92 per barrel, up 92 cents, or 0.9%, hitting a six-week high. This follows a Houthi attack on four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, injuring more than 70 people and causing fires at oil infrastructure, raising the risk of a wider Middle East conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S. struck an Iranian oil tanker linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in retaliation for attacks on U.S. warships. The UK is preparing to sanction Israeli settlements in the West Bank by banning imports of goods from the area, expected to take effect in 6-9 months. The EU and Canada are moving forward with a new relationship covering trade and security to counterbalance the U.S. and China. Chevron plans to more than double its drilling rigs in Venezuela under a five-year plan, as its joint venture will invest over $7 billion to boost production to 600,000 barrels per day by 2031. The U.S. Treasury Secretary said the expansion of the bond buyback program aims to cool the market, while pushing for a plan to reduce the budget deficit through Congress by year-end. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iran's airline and supporting companies, including Mahan Air, totaling 36 entities. China issued guidelines for managing AI disputes and accelerated patent approvals, while Chinese banks increased their holdings of government bonds to 16.4% of total assets in July, up from 11.5% five years ago. SoftBank is preparing to raise $10-20 billion through high-yield bonds to invest in AI, and Qualcomm revealed that Amazon will order AI chips worth up to $60 billion.
Borrowing Demand Remains Strong Even at 3% Interest Rates, Companies Focus on Cost Control and Buyer Development
With the yield on new 10-year government bonds, a benchmark for long-term interest rates, hovering near 3%, corporate funding costs are rising, but demand for funds for capital investment and M&A remains strong. Companies are struggling to control costs by shortening the maturity of corporate bonds, while also rushing to develop overseas and individual investors. Against the backdrop of rising government bond yields, there is a clear trend of corporate bonds with higher spreads attracting demand, and Sumitomo Forestry's public hybrid bond of approximately 250 billion yen drew orders of over 700 billion yen, nearly three times the issue amount. According to the Ministry of Finance's Financial Statements Statistics of Corporations, capital investment in the April-June 2026 quarter increased 1.6% year-on-year to over 13 trillion yen across all industries, and the Bank of Japan's June Tankan survey showed that large enterprises' fiscal 2026 capital investment plans rose 11.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, regional banks, shinkin banks, and credit cooperatives, which were major buyers, have shifted to issuing their own bonds, and pension funds and asset management companies are increasing their presence. Companies that cannot secure the necessary funds from domestic institutional investors alone are expanding their funding sources to overseas and individual investors, with SoftBank Group issuing individual bonds worth 1 trillion yen domestically. According to Daiwa Securities' estimates, Japanese companies' dollar bond issuance approached 100 billion dollars in 2025, and has already reached about 50 billion dollars in 2026.
SoftBank issues 1 trillion yen retail bonds at 4.75% interest
SoftBank Group has set the interest rate on its retail investor bonds worth 1 trillion yen, or approximately 6.3 billion dollars, at 4.75% for 7-year bonds, amid rising interest rates in Japan, which has increased the attractiveness of investing in debt securities and may encourage more Japanese companies to raise funds from retail investors. The interest rate is at the relatively high end of the 4.3-4.9% range that SoftBank announced in August, and is significantly higher than the average yield of about 2.3% for yen-denominated corporate bonds issued to retail investors in Japan this year. This bond issuance comes at a time when the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds has surged above 3% for the first time in about 30 years, making debt securities more appealing to Japanese households. Kazuma Ogino, a senior credit analyst at Nomura Securities, believes that both the yield level and the large issuance size of 1 trillion yen could attract new retail investors to the market. Japan's retail bond market is expanding rapidly, with the value of yen-denominated corporate bonds issued to retail investors from the start of the year to September 4 reaching 2.88 trillion yen, including SoftBank's 1 trillion yen deal, and surpassing the total issuance for any full year in the past. This growth comes as Japanese companies have increased capital needs for mergers and acquisitions and growth investments. Ogino noted that turning to retail investors helps diversify funding sources and reduces pressure on credit spreads. This trend could benefit both companies seeking additional funding channels and retail investors looking for higher returns, while helping to expand Japan's retail bond market as the country enters a higher interest rate environment.
DigitalBridge CEO Warns of Late 1990s Moment After $4B SoftBank Sale
Marc Ganzi, CEO of DigitalBridge Group, warned on CNBC that the AI infrastructure market is in a "toppy-esque moment" similar to the late 1990s, just as his company's $4 billion sale to SoftBank Group Corp. nears completion. DigitalBridge agreed on December 29, 2025, to be acquired for $16.00 per share in cash, a deal shareholders approved in April 2026, with DBRG last trading at $15.96. Ganzi highlighted a widening leverage divide, noting DigitalBridge maintains a 45% loan-to-value ratio while newer competitors push to 70-80%, a condition he compared to altitude sickness. He also criticized NVIDIA's chip-financing structure, which involves raising over $500 billion from partners like Apollo and BlackRock, as "priced to perfection," and pointed to NVIDIA's Q2 FY2027 revenue of $96.22 billion, up 105.8% year over year, as evidence of the market's exuberance.
SoftBank's $439 Billion AI Backlog Overshadowed by $3.21 Billion Loss
SoftBank Group's shares fell about 5.1% to $15.335 as investors weighed the planned U.S. IPO of its AI infrastructure unit, SB Energy, which boasts a contracted backlog of approximately $439 billion but has no operational data centers. In the first half, revenue surged 66.4% to $138.7 million, yet the net loss ballooned from $215.5 million to $3.21 billion. Nvidia has committed $1.5 billion at the IPO price, and OpenAI holds warrants valued at nearly $5.5 billion. The backlog is more than 3,100 times first-half revenue, but it represents long-term contracts rather than immediate cash, and OpenAI and SoftBank are expected to generate a significant portion of early lease revenue, raising concentration and related-party concerns. SoftBank's shares trade 7.77% above its GF Value estimate of $14.23, and while the IPO could unlock billions, SB Energy must deliver working data centers and real cash flow.
Nvidia's Hugging Face Deal May Outweigh OpenAI Financing
Nvidia is reportedly acquiring Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, a deal that could prove more strategically important than its $105 billion financing arrangement with OpenAI. The OpenAI partnership involves Nvidia providing residual value guarantees to help finance data center infrastructure, with SoftBank and Nvidia each investing $30 billion in OpenAI's February funding round, which raised $110 billion at a $730 billion pre-money valuation. While Wall Street has raised concerns about the circular nature of the OpenAI financing, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang and CFO Colette Kress defended it, citing strong demand from frontier labs. In contrast, the Hugging Face acquisition would give Nvidia ownership of a key platform for open-source AI models, potentially strengthening its CUDA ecosystem and competitive moat. Analysts suggest this marketplace could be more valuable than any single contract, as it provides visibility into winning models and helps Nvidia tailor its hardware and software to emerging workloads.
Sceye and SoftBank Complete Stratospheric Connectivity Test in Japan
Sceye and SoftBank Corp. have completed a stratospheric connectivity demonstration in Japan, marking a major step toward commercializing High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS). The Service Test 1 (ST1) mission flew more than 15,000 kilometers from New Mexico to Japan in 13 days, then provided mobile broadband to unmodified devices via SoftBank's core network, along with edge computing and drone communications. The flight, which launched on August 9, 2026, operated at about 16.5 kilometers altitude and achieved a station-keeping radius as low as 5 kilometers. Onboard processing demonstrated an average round-trip response time of 68 milliseconds, reducing latency by over 40% compared to cloud processing. This was the world's first successful test of a mobile core network and web server installed on a HAPS, with results relayed to smartphones. SoftBank invested in Sceye in 2025, and the companies aim to build a three-dimensional communications network integrating ground, sky, and space infrastructure.
DigitalBridge to delist preferred shares as SoftBank deal nears
DigitalBridge Group announced plans to delist its Series H, Series I, and Series J preferred shares from the NYSE as it moves toward its acquisition by an affiliate of SoftBank Group. The company expects to become an indirect subsidiary of SoftBank after the merger closes, and said the delisting will reduce compliance costs and management resources required to maintain the listing. It does not plan to list the preferred shares on another national exchange. After the merger, holders of each preferred series will have the right to convert their shares into cash within a specified conversion period.
SB Energy Files for US Nasdaq Listing, Aims to Raise Around 1 Trillion Yen
SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary that develops AI infrastructure, announced on the 1st that it has filed for an initial public offering on the US Nasdaq market. The offering price and listing date have not been disclosed, but according to US media, it could be listed as early as September. Reports suggest the company aims to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion (approximately 800 billion to 1.1 trillion yen), with a valuation exceeding $50 billion. SB Energy is developing AI-related infrastructure, including power generation facilities and large-scale data centers, and plans to lease them long-term to SoftBank Group and OpenAI.
SB Energy files for IPO, Nvidia invests $3B, OpenAI gets warrants
SB Energy, an AI infrastructure company majority-owned by Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, filed a registration statement with the SEC on Tuesday for a proposed IPO on Nasdaq under the ticker SBE, aiming to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion. Nvidia has committed to invest $3 billion in the offering, split between a private placement and a prepaid forward contract, while OpenAI received warrants estimated to be worth $5.5 billion and a board designation right if its stake exceeds 5%. SoftBank and OpenAI are customers at three of SB Energy's data center campuses under long-term leases, with first revenue expected in Q4 this year. The company's contracted data center capacity totals 8.8 gigawatts, with 803 megawatts under construction, and its flagship Ohio campus could require over $6 billion in credit support. J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Mizuho are joint lead book-runners, with retail offering in the UK via Marex Financial.
SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary that operates power generation and data center businesses, on Monday made public its filing for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. Reuters reported that SB Energy could target a valuation of more than $50 billion in the IPO and could list as early as September. The underwriters include JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. SB Energy will list on the Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the ticker symbol "SBE".
SoftBank's SB Energy grants OpenAI $5.5B warrants ahead of IPO
SB Energy, the data center company majority-owned by SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, issued OpenAI stock warrants valued at $5.5 billion as an incentive to secure the AI firm as a tenant, according to draft IPO documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The warrants, issued in January with a $3.6 billion valuation, climbed to $5.5 billion by the end of June. SB Energy plans to make its IPO filing public as soon as this week, targeting a listing that could raise between $5 billion and $7 billion. OpenAI, which invested $500 million in SB Energy earlier this year, is projected to own a low single-digit percentage of the company after the IPO, and SB Energy has pledged to spend at least $50 million on OpenAI products by 2028. The filing also reveals that SB Energy's Ohio campus funding depends on Nvidia's $3 billion commitment, and the company's net loss widened to $3.2 billion in the first half of 2026.
Arm faces investor revolt over CEO's $800m pay deal
Arm is facing a potential shareholder revolt over plans to hand its chief executive Rene Haas an "excessive" bonus of up to $800m. Shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have told investors to vote against the scheme, which would reward Haas if he could turn Arm into Britain's first trillion-dollar company. Under the proposed "value creation plan," Haas would receive escalating share awards if Arm's valuation reached $1tn, with further tranches at $1.5tn and $2tn. ISS said the plan raises concerns over potentially excessive large gains and is unproven in improving performance, while Glass Lewis also described the package as excessive. Shareholders will vote on the pay scheme at the company's annual meeting on September 9, but rejection is unlikely because SoftBank owns 86% of Arm's shares.
OpenAI Data Center Head Departs Amid Expansion Plans
OpenAI's head of data centers, Chris Malone, has left the company after about a year and a half, becoming the fourth executive to depart in August alone. The departure comes as OpenAI prepares for a usage inflection requiring massive computing power, with plans to go public by 2027. Earlier this month, Nvidia agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion to help OpenAI lease a data center in Ohio developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank entity, part of the four-year, $500 billion Stargate Project. Malone's exit follows the recent departures of chief revenue officer Denise Dresser, COO Brad Lightcap, and Fidji Simo, who transitioned to a part-time advisor role. President Greg Brockman downplayed the exodus, saying it's not atypical for OpenAI, while the company faces growing public opposition to data center construction, with over 500 U.S. counties restricting new builds and more than 50 planned data centers canceled this year.
SoftBank Group considers raising up to $20 billion in debt for OpenAI investment
According to a Bloomberg report, SoftBank Group is in talks with several investment banks to raise approximately $10-20 billion (about 1.59-3.18 trillion yen) in debt related to its investment in OpenAI. This debt issuance is seen as part of the company's broader fundraising efforts related to OpenAI, as reported by Reuters.
Alibaba Drops on Share Sale, SoftBank Bond Sale, Bitcoin Rally
Alibaba is tumbling after announcing a plan to raise about HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) from a share sale, which analysts expect to dilute earnings and hurt stock performance in the near term. The fundraising will help drive AI-led growth, and the impact on earnings will be limited if the company can improve AI payoffs, they added. SoftBank is moving on news it plans a record ¥1 trillion retail bond sale to raise funds for its investment commitments to OpenAI. Bitcoin is continuing its rally, with spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds seeing their strongest weekly inflow in 10 months last week.
SoftBank plans record $6.3B retail bond sale in Japan
SoftBank Group plans a record ¥1 trillion, or $6.3 billion, retail bond sale in Japan, the biggest by any issuer in the country. The seven-year bonds are expected to be priced on September 4, with an indicative coupon range of 4.3% to 4.9%, according to a company filing. The issuance is SoftBank's largest ever as the conglomerate raises funds for its investment commitments to OpenAI. SoftBank has been ramping up AI investments through debt, bond sales, and asset disposals, including holdings in Nvidia and T-Mobile. Across Asia, companies are boosting AI infrastructure spending, such as Alibaba's $10.2 billion share placement to expand its full-stack AI capabilities.
Private Equity Circles Utilities as AI Reshapes the Grid
Private equity is increasingly targeting utilities as the artificial intelligence boom reshapes the U.S. power grid. Representatives on both sides of the aisle are increasingly pushing back against hyperscalers who are developing massive data center campuses on local energy grids, driving up energy demand and therefore causing electricity prices to skyrocket for everyone, whether they benefit from the artificial intelligence boom or not. The Trump administration has attempted to resolve the issue by pushing the tech sector to provide its own energy sources to power its rapidly proliferating data centers. Amazon is currently building a gas-fired power plant in Texas that is set to become the single-biggest source of power-related emissions in the entire United States. Nvidia announced that it would team up with Japan's SoftBank and the United States government to build the country's largest fossil-fuel plant to power an OpenAI project in Ohio. Major utilities are rushing to sell off non-core chunks of their regulated businesses to raise cash, and willing to cut good deals with buyers, according to Semafor.
Seven & i raises 300 billion yen from SoftBank and others
Seven & i Holdings has accepted investments of 100 billion yen each from SoftBank, PayPay, and Sumitomo Mitsui Card, totaling 300 billion yen. The aim is to accelerate convenience store reforms by bringing in outside capital, integrating the group's common ID "7iD" into "PayPay ID," and expanding the points-based economic sphere while promoting the use of AI and robot technology. Its domestic convenience store business has lagged FamilyMart and Lawson in growth, and through this partnership the company aims to create a "future-style convenience store."
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