Masayoshi Son's Bold Move: "Negotiating Up to 36 Trillion Won Investment in OpenAI"

Potential for SoftBank to Surpass Microsoft as OpenAI's Largest Investor
Musk Questions SoftBank's Financial Strength

Japanese company SoftBank is reportedly negotiating a plan to invest up to 36 trillion won in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (first from the left), and Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank Japan. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.

On the 29th (local time), major foreign media outlets such as CNBC cited anonymous sources reporting that SoftBank is discussing a direct investment of $15 billion to $25 billion (approximately 21 trillion to 36 trillion won) in OpenAI.

On the 21st, the two companies, along with Oracle, announced the establishment of Stargate, an artificial intelligence (AI) joint venture, and revealed plans to invest more than $500 billion (approximately 718 trillion won) over the next four years to build AI data centers in the United States. SoftBank and OpenAI agreed to invest $15 billion each in the Stargate project, but the current negotiations are said to be proceeding separately from the Stargate investment.

According to sources, the new funds SoftBank plans to invest in OpenAI could be used by OpenAI as investment capital for Stargate. This suggests that SoftBank may spend up to $40 billion (approximately 58 trillion won) in cooperation with OpenAI.

If SoftBank proceeds with an investment exceeding $15 billion, it could become OpenAI's largest investor, surpassing the current largest shareholder, Microsoft (MS). OpenAI has stated that it has secured more than $20 billion (approximately 29 trillion won) in investment funds so far.

Regarding the negotiations, there is also an interpretation that SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son has made a bold move to strengthen competitiveness in the AI market. Speculation has been raised that Chairman Son is seeking to acquire shares in OpenAI for the superintelligence business.

From OpenAI's perspective, SoftBank's investment is welcome news. It could help reduce dependence on Microsoft and secure additional funds needed for building data centers. Additionally, OpenAI faces the challenge of needing further investment to widen the technological gap, especially in light of the recent launch of a cost-effective AI model with similar performance by Chinese startup DeepSeek.

However, opinions have also been raised that SoftBank's investment discussions with OpenAI are in the early stages and may not lead to an actual investment. Neither SoftBank nor OpenAI has commented on requests for statements regarding this matter. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also mentioned that the amount of funds SoftBank has secured is far less than $10 billion (approximately 14 trillion won).