SoftBank Plans $500 Million Investment in AI Leader OpenAI

Masayoshi Son, Founder and CEO of SoftBank

SoftBank’s Vision Fund is set to invest $500 million in OpenAI, as reported by The Information on Monday. This comes amid OpenAI’s latest funding round, where the company seeks to raise $6.5 billion through convertible notes. Neither SoftBank nor OpenAI have issued official comments regarding the deal.

Earlier reports indicated that Apple had decided not to join the funding round, which values OpenAI at $150 billion before SoftBank’s investment. However, this valuation may hinge on OpenAI's ability to restructure its corporate framework and eliminate its profit cap for investors.

This marks SoftBank's first major investment in the AI startup, led by Sam Altman, according to the report from The Information.

Source: Reuters