Business
SoftBank Seals $11.9 Billion Loan for OpenAI Push
SoftBank secured an $11.87 billion two-year loan to fund its OpenAI investment, upsizing an earlier $10 billion target as it deepens one of the largest private AI bets.
HONG KONG · Priya Raman, Business · Sep 14 2026
HONG KONG - SoftBank Group Corp. secured an $11.87 billion two-year loan to fund its investment in OpenAI, people familiar with the matter said, upsizing an earlier $10 billion target as the Japanese conglomerate deepens one of the largest private bets on artificial intelligence.
About 20 banks committed to the facility, which closed last week, according to people who asked not to be named because the talks were private. SoftBank declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported the terms on Monday.
The borrowing adds to a wave of SoftBank financing tied to OpenAI. That stack already includes a $10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake and a potential U.S. dollar junk-bond sale of as much as $20 billion that SoftBank is sounding out with New York investors this week. SoftBank said last week it would repay $25.9 billion still owed on a $40 billion OpenAI-related bridge loan on Sept. 15; that unsecured facility had been due to mature in March 2027.
Founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has said SoftBank plans to invest close to $65 billion in OpenAI by October. SoftBank has already raised the equivalent of about $37 billion this year from offshore and domestic bonds and loans, including the latest facility, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. SoftBank Group shares tumbled as much as 13 percent in Tokyo trading on Monday - the steepest drop since mid-July - as investors weighed AI credit risk, a broader Asia tech selloff after frontier-AI chiefs urged a slower development pace, and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate increase later in the week.
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told Fortune that the company would not pursue a public offering this year while it addresses safety-related concerns - a backdrop that makes SoftBank’s cash commitment more conspicuous, not less. For SoftBank, Monday’s loan report underscores how far Son is willing to lever the balance sheet to stay at the center of the AI buildout, even as markets and some industry leaders debate whether the frontier should slow down.
