SoftBank Borrows $10 Billion Against OpenAI Stake

M&A · PartnershipDigital Finance Impact 4
โดย The Wall Street Journal·JPUS·Read original
Summary · why it matters

SoftBank Group used its stake in OpenAI to borrow $10 billion from a group of banks, the company said Thursday, dialing up risk on its giant bet on the AI pioneer. The cash helps SoftBank fund an even larger stake in OpenAI, as it is poised to pay another $10 billion for shares in the ChatGPT maker by October, the final chunk of a $30 billion investment announced earlier this year. The loan, backed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Apollo, Mizuho Securities, and Sumitomo Mitsui, is an unusual move because backers of large startups typically do not invest using debt, and Wall Street banks are reluctant to make large loans backed by private, loss-making company stock. SoftBank said the deal requires it to inject additional cash if OpenAI's valuation falls. The Japanese group also plans to start construction this year on the first portions of a 10-gigawatt data center campus in Ohio, which would be the world's largest AI data center cluster if completed.

Impact on stocks 9

Financials▲ · 4 stocks
SoftBank Group Corp.
9984
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

SoftBank borrows $10B against OpenAI stake to fund further investment, increasing leverage but enabling its AI bet.

Artificial Intelligence▲ · 3 stocks
Aging Population▲ · 1 stocks
Digital Finance & Tokenization▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 3

Off-coverage companies 1

OpenAIPrivate▲ Positive
Capitalrelevance

SoftBank's $10B loan and planned $10B investment signal strong financial backing and confidence in OpenAI's valuation.

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