SoftBank Group is in a high-stakes race to secure the remaining $22.5 billion it owes to OpenAI by the end of 2025, a move founder Masayoshi Son is treating as a "do-or-die" play in the global AI race. The Japanese conglomerate has already delivered $10 billion of a total $30 billion investment agreement signed in April, with the remainder contingent on OpenAI completing its shift to a for-profit structure—a change finalized in October.
To raise the massive sum, SoftBank is aggressively pulling multiple financial levers. The company has sold its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia, cut $4.8 billion from its holding in T-Mobile US, and reduced headcount. Internally, the push has reshaped operations: Vision Fund managers now focus almost entirely on OpenAI-related work, and any new investment over $50 million requires Masayoshi Son's direct sign-off, bringing most new deals to a near standstill.
Additional fundraising avenues include preparing for the long-planned IPO of its PayPay payments app unit, which could raise over $20 billion in Q1 2026 if market conditions cooperate. SoftBank is also exploring trimming its position in Didi Global ahead of the ride-hailing company's planned Hong Kong listing. Furthermore, the group expanded its margin loan capacity by $6.5 billion, backed by its stake in Arm Holdings, whose stock has tripled since its IPO, providing more collateral.
The urgency stems from OpenAI's exploding compute demands. CEO Sam Altman recently told staff the company entered a "code red" phase to upgrade ChatGPT, delaying other launches to counter competition from Google's Gemini. OpenAI aims to build 30 gigawatts of compute for $1.4 trillion, with a long-term goal of adding 1 gigawatt every week—a scale where each gigawatt now costs over $40 billion. Both companies are backing "Stargate," a $500 billion effort to build massive AI data centers.
Concurrently, financial commentator Jim Cramer issued a stark warning about the broader data center sector. He suggested OpenAI needs to raise at least $200 billion of a reported $300 billion it owes to Oracle to prevent the entire data center sector from collapsing. Cramer emphasized that such funding would enable Oracle and other hyperscalers to continue investing in infrastructure, supporting the sector's growth. He noted this could be a "humbling moment" for OpenAI's "monster hubris," but remained optimistic the funds could be raised, potentially through a combination of private and public rounds.
The massive spending wave has raised investor concerns about returns and the potential for an AI bubble if revenues fail to match costs. These concerns were highlighted by Oracle's $18 billion bond sale in September—one of the largest debt issuances on record. Despite the worries, AI stocks rallied on December 19th, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.31%.
