3 weeks ago
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Update March 29, 2025:
OpenAI's $40 billion funding round with SoftBank appears to be nearing completion, according to the Wall Street Journal. However, there's a significant condition: OpenAI must successfully transform into a for-profit company by the end of the year. If this doesn't happen, the funding could drop to $20 billion.
SoftBank plans to contribute $30 billion directly while raising an additional $10 billion from other investors, including Microsoft. The initial phase would provide OpenAI with $10 billion. Meanwhile, Elon Musk is actively working to prevent the for-profit conversion.
Original article from February 3, 2025:
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SoftBank bets big on OpenAI with $3 billion annual commitment and new joint venture
SoftBank and OpenAI announced a major partnership on Monday that includes billions in annual spending and a new joint venture focused on the Japanese market.
The deal commits SoftBank to spending $3 billion per year on OpenAI technologies across its own operations and subsidiaries. The two companies will also create "SB OpenAI Japan," a joint venture that will exclusively distribute OpenAI's enterprise technology to major Japanese companies.
The agreement gives SoftBank and its subsidiaries access to ChatGPT Enterprise, the OpenAI API, and custom models. SoftBank is packaging these tools, along with the AI agent "Operator" and "Deep Research" tool, under its new "Cristal Intelligence" brand.
Masayoshi Son sees AGI in less than 10 years
During a Monday morning livestream, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son shared his thoughts on AI's future, suggesting artificial general intelligence (AGI) could emerge within the next decade. Son noted that large companies would likely be the first to adopt AGI due to the significant costs involved.
The partnership extends to Arm, the British chip designer SoftBank acquired in 2016, which plans to use OpenAI tools to enhance its productivity.
Recommendation
Recent reports suggest SoftBank is considering an investment of $15 to $25 billion in OpenAI, which would make it the largest investor alongside Microsoft. This investment would be part of a financing round worth up to $40 billion, potentially valuing OpenAI at $300 billion. Some of this funding may support the Stargate project.
