SoftBank seeks $100bn from Gulf investors to expand AI bet
SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son is seeking up to $100bn from Gulf investors, and has held talks in recent weeks with senior figures in the UAE, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The money would set up a fund to buy companies and improve them with AI and other advanced technology, with Roze — the robotics/physical-AI unit Son hopes to IPO at a lofty valuation — expected to play a key role. The approach comes as SoftBank, which has already put $65bn into OpenAI, faces investor reassessment of its exposure after OpenAI’s IPO was delayed. Abu Dhabi is a big AI spender through MGX and G42 (neither responded); Mubadala and Saudi Arabia’s PIF backed the first $100bn Vision Fund in 2017. Vision Fund 1 had about $29bn of cumulative gains to end-June, while Vision Fund 2, which holds the OpenAI stake, stood at $20.5bn. Last month SoftBank completed the largest junk-bond offering on record (more than $11bn, yields up to 9.75%) and also borrows against part of its Arm stake. Caveats: there is no guarantee the talks succeed and SoftBank declined to comment; senior SoftBank figures say short-term swings in OpenAI’s valuation will not upset its plans; an Asia analyst warns “A contagion effect . . . could get quite bad, quite quickly”. Shares are up 25% this year but more than 30% below their June peak (when SoftBank was briefly Japan’s most valuable company) and fell 5% on Friday after the FT reported OpenAI’s annualised revenue was about $20bn lower than signalled. NAV was ¥72.3tn at end-June, with loan-to-value at 13% against a 25% ceiling. The article sets WeWork’s late-2023 bankruptcy against the Alibaba success as the two poles of Son’s record.
Why it matters
The largest AI-capital-raising datapoint of the day: the biggest private AI backer is turning back to Gulf sovereign money while its OpenAI exposure, share price and bond funding come under scrutiny — a read-across for how AI infrastructure and late-stage capital will be financed, and for Gulf funds’ growing weight in global tech investing.
Executive takeaways
Ask: up to $100bn from Gulf investors, with UAE talks in recent weeks (per multiple people familiar); no deal assured and SoftBank declined to comment. | • Purpose: a fund to buy companies and upgrade them with AI/advanced tech; robotics/physical-AI unit Roze expected to play a key role (Son hopes to IPO it at a lofty valuation). | • Backdrop: $65bn already invested in OpenAI; OpenAI IPO delay and exposure fears prompting investors to reassess; Anthropic expected to launch a potentially record IPO in coming weeks. | • Track record: Vision Fund 1 about $29bn cumulative gains to end-June; Vision Fund 2 (holds OpenAI stake) $20.5bn; Mubadala and PIF backed the original $100bn fund. | • Funding strain: record junk-bond offering last month (>$11bn, yields up to 9.75%) and borrowing partly backed by the Arm stake. | • Counterweights: shares >30% below June peak and −5% after the FT’s OpenAI revenue report; LTV 13% vs 25% ceiling and NAV ¥72.3tn; senior SoftBank figures say short-term OpenAI valuation moves won’t upset plans; MGX and G42 did not respond.
What Financial Times may be missing
The report rests on unnamed sources and gives no terms: no fund structure or size of SoftBank’s own commitment, no named Gulf investor confirming interest, no return or fee expectations, and no list of target companies beyond Roze’s role. It does not say how an AI-led buy-and-improve fund differs from the Vision Funds’ venture approach, nor how a new Gulf-backed fund would interact with SoftBank’s heavy debt load and OpenAI concentration. The Gulf side — MGX and G42 did not respond — is absent, so whether Gulf investors want more SoftBank-linked AI exposure after OpenAI’s IPO delay is untested. It also leaves open the wider Gulf-capital picture: how much of the region’s AI spending is already committed elsewhere.
