According to a Bloomberg report on Friday, the Japanese investment giant and its bankers have discussed reducing the target size of the loan to as low as $6 billion, down from an initial goal of $10 billion. Discussions with potential creditors are ongoing, and the final amount could still change, the report said.
SoftBank and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s requests for comment.
SoftBank’s AI Bet Grows
The proposed financing would use SoftBank’s investment in OpenAI as collateral. Some lenders were said to be cautious about assigning a reliable valuation to the ChatGPT maker, given that OpenAI remains unlisted, according to the report.
The two-year margin loan would include an option for SoftBank to extend the term by an additional year, Bloomberg had reported last month.
The development comes as scrutiny grows around the economics of the AI boom and whether massive investments in the sector will translate into profits anytime soon. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has aggressively expanded the group’s AI exposure, funding billions of dollars in OpenAI investments through debt financing.
The company first invested in OpenAI in September 2024 and later partnered with the startup on Stargate, a large-scale U.S. AI infrastructure initiative announced in January 2025.
The company recently committed another $30 billion to OpenAI after previously investing more than that amount. In March, SoftBank secured a $40 billion bridge loan — its largest-ever dollar-denominated borrowing — partly to fund the latest investment.
In early March, S&P downgraded SoftBank’s credit rating, citing that the additional investment would “further reduce SoftBank Group’s financial capacity.”
Concerns Mount Around OpenAI’s Growth
OpenAI, with a current valuation of $852 billion, needs substantial funding to continue developing its AI models, while paying for its vast computing needs, and retaining top talent in a competitive market.
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