SoftBank Group AI investment and infrastructure expansion

SoftBank Group is pursuing an aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence, focusing on both software investments and physical infrastructure.

Initially, the company reported a year-on-year net profit decline to 347.3 billion yen for the April-June quarter, though the figure exceeded analyst forecasts due to gains from its Intel stake. During this period, SoftBank secured a $10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake to fund corporate purposes and Vision Fund investments, with total planned investment in OpenAI projected to reach approximately $65 billion.

Following this, SoftBank's strategy evolved toward deeper integration of the AI ecosystem. The company considered increasing its total engagement with OpenAI to over $71 billion and began investing heavily in the physical requirements of computing. This includes significant spending on U.S. power generation and data center assets through its subsidiary, Energy Global. Additionally, SoftBank restructured to create an AI Computing segment that integrates Arm, Ampere, and Graphcore.

To further finance its AI commitments, SoftBank has planned a record 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion) retail bond sale in Japan, marking its third such offering this year. These funds are intended to support its investment commitments to OpenAI and accelerate data center expansion to meet rising demand from hyperscalers. Amidst these moves, S&P Global Ratings recently revised SoftBank's outlook to stable from negative, affirming its long-term issuer credit rating at BB+.

In August 2026, SoftBank prepared to price 7-year retail bonds on September 4, with indicative coupon rates between 4.3% and 4.9%. This record ¥1 trillion sale aims to support OpenAI commitments, which have now surpassed $60 billion, as the company targets an ownership stake of approximately 11% to 13% through Vision Fund 2. This follows previous retail bond sales in April and June of 2026.