SoftBank Completes Final $30B Tranche in OpenAI for 13% Stake

SoftBank Group completed the final tranche of its $30 billion investment commitment in OpenAI, bringing its cumulative backing to $64.6 billion and securing a 13% equity stake in the ChatGPT developer.

The capital deployment finalizes a fundraising cycle that valued the Sam Altman-led artificial intelligence lab at $852 billion during a broader $122 billion funding round earlier this year, according to an Economic Times report.

"SoftBank completes its final tranche of funding into OpenAI, bringing its total cumulative investment to $64.6 billion and securing a 13% stake," according to the reporting.

Breaking Down the Tranche Structure

SoftBank executed the $30 billion capital injection across three distinct tranches of $10 billion each, funneled through its Vision Fund 2 vehicle. This phased deployment allowed the Japanese conglomerate to manage liquidity while scaling its exposure to foundational AI infrastructure.

To fund the bet, SoftBank raised $11.1 billion in the month prior through a high-yield corporate bond sale globally. With the final $10 billion tranche now fully settled, the company also canceled the remaining $10 billion of undrawn capacity under a $40 billion bridge loan secured earlier in the year.

Valuation and Broader Market Context

OpenAI's $122 billion funding round earlier this year established an $852 billion valuation, anchored by major technology players including Amazon and Nvidia alongside SoftBank. This valuation reflects capital expenditure requirements needed to train increasingly complex frontier models and scale global data center capacity.

For SoftBank, the 13% stake represents one of the largest single bets in the history of venture capital, surpassing traditional tech allocations and realigning the firm's portfolio toward generative AI infrastructure.