SoftBank secured an upsized $11.9 billion loan to support its investment in OpenAI. The funding comes amid concerns about AI safety, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stating the company won't proceed with a public offering this year due to safety-related issues.
SoftBank just borrowed nearly $12 billion from about 20 banks to keep funding OpenAI, beating the $10 billion it first sought. Son is still aiming near $65 billion into OpenAI by October even as Altman shelves a 2026 IPO over safety and SoftBank shares sank as much as 13% Monday on the debt pile.
# SoftBank gets upsized $11.9 billion loan in OpenAI funding push
Source: [https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/09/14/companies/softbank-loan-openai/](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/09/14/companies/softbank-loan-openai/)
SoftBank Group secured an $11\.87 billion loan to support its investment in U\.S\. artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, people familiar with the matter said, up from its earlier target of $10 billion\.
The Japanese conglomerate sealed the two\-year facility last week, attracting commitments from around 20 banks, said the people, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly\.
Softbank declined to comment\.
The financing comes as some executives are now voicing the need to slow the pace of AI development due to escalating risks from the technology\. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said in an interview with Fortune that his company wouldn’t proceed with a public offering this year as it addresses safety\-related concerns\.
SoftBank shares tumbled as much as 13% Monday, the most since July 17\.
The latest borrowing would add to SoftBank’s wave of recent debt financing activities tied to its bet on OpenAI\. That includes a $10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake and a potential bond sale of as much as $20 billion, despite concerns about growing credit risks in the artificial intelligence sector\.
SoftBank said last week that it would repay the balance of a $40 billion loan it obtained earlier this year to finance its investment in OpenAI\. The company plans to pay down the $25\.9 billion it owes on Sept\. 15, according to a statement\. The noncollateralized borrowing was due to mature in March next year\.
Meanwhile, SoftBank is set to hold meetings with investors in New York this week to sound out interest for the potential U\.S\. dollar junk\-bond sale\. It is considering raising $10 billion to $20 billion from the bond offering, people familiar with the matter said last month\.
SoftBank, founded and led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, is slated to invest close to $65 billion in OpenAI by October\. The company has already raised the equivalent of about $37 billion so far this year from offshore and domestic bond sales and loans, including the latest facility, according to Bloomberg\-compiled data\.
SoftBank is raising over $11 billion through junk bonds to fund its next investment in OpenAI, highlighting the intense capital race in AI development.
OpenAI announces $110B in new investment at a $730B pre-money valuation, including major funding from SoftBank, NVIDIA, and Amazon, along with strategic partnerships to expand compute capacity and global reach for AI products. The funding aims to accelerate deployment of frontier AI across consumers, developers, and enterprises worldwide.
OpenAI has reportedly lowered its funding target for its latest round from $30 billion to $20 billion, with only $11 billion secured so far amid a tepid response from large investors wary of heavy AI infrastructure spending.
OpenAI has announced $40 billion in new funding at a $300 billion post-money valuation, in partnership with SoftBank Group, to advance AI research, scale compute infrastructure, and develop tools for its 500 million weekly ChatGPT users on the path toward AGI.
Nvidia and SoftBank each completed their final $10B payments to OpenAI, finishing $60B in pledges on October 1, 2026, bringing the three anchor investors to $110B of OpenAI's $122B round.