SoftBank is rotating capital out of legacy winners and into what it believes to be the next dominant AI platform, committing fresh billions of dollars to OpenAI.
On the company’s latest results call, chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto says OpenAI is a core engine for future returns, after the investment giant saw its fair value investment in the ChatGPT creator surge by $14.6 billion in the first half of its 2025 fiscal year.
“OpenAI is one of our key growth drivers. In the second quarter, the fair value of our OpenAI investment rose sharply, reflecting the latest transaction valuation.”
Goto says SoftBank is doubling down as the platform stabilizes its structure.
“OpenAI addressed its long-term structure, and Vision Fund 2 will invest an additional $22.5 billion in December at a $260 billion pre-money valuation. This reinforces our long-term partnership.”
The SoftBank exec highlights OpenAI’s user traction as a key pillar of its bet.
“Weekly active users reached 800 million in October, and total app downloads this year have exceeded 870 million — far ahead of any other generative AI platform.”
The move accompanies exits from prior-cycle winners: a full Nvidia (NVDA) sale for $5.8 billion in October, $9.2 billion of T-Mobile (TMUS) disposals in the first half, and $2.4 billion from Deutsche Telekom (DTE) over the same period.
News of the Nvidia sale sent SoftBank (9984) tumbling, dropping as much as 10% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
SoftBank says it expects its OpenAI investment to soar to $34.7 billion.
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