According to a report from The Information tech news website on Saturday, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is planning to borrow $16 billion to invest in AI, as informed by the company's executives to banks last week. Additionally, it was mentioned that SoftBank may borrow another $8 billion in early 2026.
Earlier in January, Reuters had reported that SoftBank is in discussions to invest around $25 billion in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, as part of its ongoing expansion into the sector. This investment would complement the $15 billion SoftBank has already committed to Stargate, as reported by Reuters based on an insider.
The Information had previously noted SoftBank's intention to invest a total of $40 billion in Stargate and OpenAI, revealing talks to borrow up to $18.5 billion, supported by its publicly-listed assets for financing.
Stargate, a joint effort by Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank, aims to invest up to $500 billion to ensure the United States maintains a competitive edge in the global AI competition against countries like China.
The initiative was unveiled in January at the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump, Masayoshi Son from SoftBank, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Larry Ellison, Chairman of Oracle.