SoftBank takes 11% of Open AI with $22.5 billion investment
The breakthrough technology investor’s ownership of OpenAI is now approximately 11%. The funding follows SoftBank’s $4 billion deal to acquire DigitalBridge Group, an asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure, including data centres.
Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, said: “SoftBank saw the potential of AI early and committed with a deep belief in its impact on humanity. Their global leadership and scale help us move faster and bring advanced intelligence to the world.”
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, added: “We are deeply aligned with OpenAI’s vision of ensuring AGI [artificial general intelligence] benefits all of humanity.”
SoftBank says its mission is to realise artificial super intelligence (ASI). Achieving that goal requires breakthroughs not only in AI models but also in the infrastructure to train, deploy, and serve them at global scale.
The acquisition of DigitalBridge strengthens SoftBank Group’s ability to build and finance the infrastructure needed for next-generation AI services and applications. “The buildout of AI infrastructure represents one of the most significant investment opportunities of our generation,” said Marc Ganzi, chief executive officer of DigitalBridge.
Son said: “DigitalBridge is a leader in digital infrastructure, and this acquisition will strengthen the foundation for next-generation AI data centres, advance our vision to become a leading ASI platform provider, and help unlock breakthroughs that move humanity forward.”
Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, said: “SoftBank saw the potential of AI early and committed with a deep belief in its impact on humanity. Their global leadership and scale help us move faster and bring advanced intelligence to the world.”
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, added: “We are deeply aligned with OpenAI’s vision of ensuring AGI [artificial general intelligence] benefits all of humanity.”
SoftBank says its mission is to realise artificial super intelligence (ASI). Achieving that goal requires breakthroughs not only in AI models but also in the infrastructure to train, deploy, and serve them at global scale.
The acquisition of DigitalBridge strengthens SoftBank Group’s ability to build and finance the infrastructure needed for next-generation AI services and applications. “The buildout of AI infrastructure represents one of the most significant investment opportunities of our generation,” said Marc Ganzi, chief executive officer of DigitalBridge.
Son said: “DigitalBridge is a leader in digital infrastructure, and this acquisition will strengthen the foundation for next-generation AI data centres, advance our vision to become a leading ASI platform provider, and help unlock breakthroughs that move humanity forward.”
