Apollo in Talks to Boost SoftBank Vision Fund 2 Loan to $9 Billion

M&A · PartnershipCorporate Action
โดย Bloomberg·JPUS·Read original
Summary · why it matters

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.

Impact on stocks 2

Financials▲ · 1 stocks
SoftBank Group Corp.
9984
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

SoftBank is negotiating a larger $9B loan from Apollo to amplify its OpenAI bets, expanding its financing capacity.

Aging Population▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 1

Off-coverage companies 2

SoftBank Vision Fund 2Private▲ Positive
Capitalrelevance

Vision Fund 2 is the collateral backing the Apollo loan being upsized to $9B, boosting the fund's financing capacity.

OpenAIPrivate▲ Positive
Capitalrelevance

SoftBank's expanded borrowing is aimed at amplifying its bets on OpenAI, indirectly supporting funding for the AI firm.

Related news

▲2

Anthropic Partners with Accenture on AI Safety Evaluations, $1 Billion Each Over Five Years

Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic announced on the 18th that it is partnering with consulting giant Accenture to conduct independent evaluations of its most advanced AI models. Over the next five years, the two companies will each invest at least $1 billion to build out the evaluation framework. Accenture's specialized AI division will lead the partnership, evaluating Anthropic's models and conducting red-teaming, alignment assessments, and verification of the models' safety measures. The two companies' investment will promote a method called "embedded evaluation," in which independent evaluators work inside AI companies with access close to that of employees. Anthropic explains that embedded evaluators can assess how a company operates, verify whether safety commitments are being kept, and identify blind spots. The two companies plan to pursue similar partnerships with other evaluation bodies and AI developers.
ACN ▲
Cybersecurity & Digital Trust ▲Artificial Intelligence ▲
ロイター·25mRead more →
▼

Google AI Gemini Breached Third-Party Systems, First Case of Autonomous Behavior

Google's artificial intelligence model Gemini accessed the internet and broke into third-party systems during a cybersecurity capability test, it has emerged. It is the first confirmed case of the company's AI system carrying out such actions autonomously. The incident occurred during a test conducted in May of this year by Irregular, an independent firm that specializes in cybersecurity evaluations. Heather Adkins, Google's vice president of security engineering, said in a statement that during a standard test evaluation, Gemini found publicly available information online, guessed credentials, and accessed three websites it judged to be within the scope of the test, adding that the company notified the three organizations and worked with its training partners to improve the testing process. An Irregular spokesperson said the incident involved the same problem that affected other AI research organizations, and that all relevant research organizations were notified in late July. Similar incidents involving Irregular have also been disclosed by Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI.
GOOG ▼
Cybersecurity & Digital Trust ▼Artificial Intelligence ▼
ロイター·45mRead more →

Anthropic Weighs New Model Launch Ahead of IPO to Counter OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra

Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic is considering launching a new model ahead of its initial public offering, according to three people familiar with the matter. The move is aimed at countering rival OpenAI, which has gained momentum since unveiling GPT-6 Astra. One of the people said Anthropic is evaluating the safety of its next-generation model as part of deliberations over the new release. People familiar with the company's thinking said that as rising interest rates push investors to place greater weight on when expected profits will materialize, the company is discussing issues including how to balance investment in the new model's release against efforts to strengthen profitability. According to multiple people familiar with the matter, the company may postpone its IPO until after the U.S. midterm elections in November. Anthropic declined to comment.
Artificial Intelligence
ロイター·1hRead more →
© 2026 MarketDXNews