• SoftBank Group is investing up to $3 billion in a massive U.S. data center project codenamed "Stargate," a joint initiative with OpenAI and Oracle.
  • The investment is part of a broader, multi-gigawatt infrastructure buildout critical to OpenAI's pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
  • This commitment follows SoftBank's recent sale of its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia, signaling a strategic pivot toward direct AI infrastructure ownership.

SoftBank Group is deploying up to $3 billion to construct specialized data centers for OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter, a massive capital infusion that accelerates a global race to build the computational backbone for advanced artificial intelligence.

The investment is a key piece of the "Stargate" project, a joint initiative with Oracle that aims to deploy hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure by the end of 2025. The new facilities are designed specifically to support OpenAI's rapid model development and its long-term goal of achieving AGI.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's Chairman and CEO, has privately described OpenAI as the conglomerate's "most important partner," underscoring a strategic shift away from passive technology investments toward owning the fundamental infrastructure of the AI era. This commitment, part of a quarter where SoftBank has deployed over $30 billion, represents the company's largest single infrastructure play to date.

Efforts to rapidly scale U.S.-based AI capacity have received significant White House support. The Stargate initiative was originally announced at the White House in early 2025, with the Trump administration playing a direct role in incentivizing and fast-tracking the commitments. The project is expected to create over 25,000 onsite jobs, with sites already planned in Lordstown, Ohio and Milam County, Texas.

A person involved in the negotiations said the partners are aiming to surpass a 10-gigawatt target by the end of 2025, a scale of computing power that would have been unthinkable just two years ago. "The energy demands alone are staggering," the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the details are not public. "This isn't just building server farms; it's creating a new industrial base for the U.S."

SoftBank's aggressive move follows its decision to liquidate its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia last quarter, a trade that effectively freed up capital to fund these direct infrastructure bets. The company has also been active in other parts of the AI supply chain, including its $6.5 billion acquisition of Ampere Computing earlier this year.

As part of the broader partnership, SoftBank's stake in OpenAI is expected to increase from 4% to as much as 11% following the AI firm's recapitalization, which valued it at $500 billion. Representatives for SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the total quarterly investment figure. SoftBank has deployed over $30 billion this quarter, not $20 billion.