SoftBank Reportedly Plans Over $11 Billion Bond Sale to Fund AI Investments

SoftBank Group Corp. is reportedly planning to raise more than $11 billion through a major bond sale to fuel its aggressive investment strategy in artificial intelligence. The move underscores the Japanese conglomerate's increasing focus on the AI sector, according to a Bloomberg News report citing people familiar with the matter.

Details of the Offering

The proposed multi-currency debt issuance is expected to be one of the largest high-yield offerings in recent memory. According to the report, the plan includes:

• $10 billion in dollar-denominated bonds spread across three different maturities.
• €1 billion (approximately $1.1 billion) in euro-denominated notes across two maturities.

This significant capital raise highlights the growing trend of leveraging debt markets to fund the capital-intensive race for AI dominance.

Strategic Push into AI

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A portion of the proceeds is reportedly earmarked for a follow-on investment in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. That deal is expected to close as soon as next month, the report said.

SoftBank has already committed nearly $65 billion to OpenAI, making the AI pioneer a cornerstone of its investment portfolio. This new funding would further deepen the financial ties between the two companies and solidify SoftBank's bet on the future of generative artificial intelligence.

Market Context

S&P Global Ratings has assigned SoftBank a BB+ credit rating, which is the highest tier of speculative-grade, commonly known as high-yield or "junk." The sheer scale of the proposed bond sale in this category is notable and signals strong investor appetite for debt linked to the high-growth AI industry.

The offering would provide SoftBank with substantial liquidity to continue its large-scale technology investments, which are increasingly centered on AI infrastructure, applications, and research.