Japanese investment giant, SoftBank, is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. The move will make SoftBank the largest backer of the artificial intelligence startup. The potential deal comes as OpenAI, currently valued at $157 billion, shifts toward a for-profit structure to compete in the rapidly evolving AI industry.
The investment would be part of a broader partnership that includes Stargate, a recently announced joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The project, unveiled at the White House last week, aims to invest up to $500 billion in U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure to maintain America’s competitive edge in the global AI race.
SoftBank’s potential investment represents founder Masayoshi Son’s biggest move since his $16 billion WeWork investment. The deal would also decrease OpenAI’s reliance on Microsoft, which has been the company’s primary backer since 2019.
The timing of these negotiations is particularly significant as Chinese competitor DeepSeek has emerged as a serious contender in the AI space. DeepSeek’s app recently topped Apple’s App Store rankings, with reports suggesting its powerful AI model was developed at a fraction of the cost of U.S. competitors.
Read also: What you need to know about DeepSeek – the Chinese AI chatbot disrupting the AI community
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged DeepSeek’s R1 model as “impressive” but promised “much better models” in response. However, the Chinese startup’s success has already impacted markets, raising questions about the necessity of massive investments in expensive AI hardware.
The deal, which is still in early stages and subject to final negotiations, follows SoftBank’s previous $1.5 billion investment in OpenAI through a tender offer last November. If completed, this investment would significantly boost OpenAI’s resources in the increasingly competitive generative AI market, which analysts predict could reach $1 trillion within a decade.
