Japanese corporation SoftBank Group secured a $40 billion bridge loan for its investments in OpenAI and general corporate activities, the company announced recently. The loan, which is unsecured, will mature in March 2027 and was organized with various lenders, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, and MUFG Bank, according to a report by Reuters.
SoftBank had previously committed to investing $30 billion in OpenAI through its Vision Fund 2. Under the leadership of founder Masayoshi Son, the company is strengthening its relationship with the developer of ChatGPT amidst growing competition in the generative AI industry.
Son has been taking more assertive steps in the AI sector following fluctuations in SoftBank’s Vision Fund performance over the years, as highlighted in the Reuters report. Last year, both SoftBank and OpenAI supported the Stargate Project, which aimed to inject up to $500 billion into US AI infrastructure over a four-year period.