SoftBank Group is seeking a $10 billion margin loan secured by its shares in OpenAI, according to reports citing people familiar with the talks. The proposed financing would use SoftBank’s growing stake in the ChatGPT maker as collateral, rather than older holdings like Arm or telecom assets.
The loan should last for around two years at first, but SoftBank can choose to extend it for another year. Talks with lenders are still going on, and sources say that the parameters of the deal, such as interest rates and covenants, may alter before the deal is finalized.
Part of a Much Larger OpenAI Funding Push
The action coincides with far larger funding ambitions for OpenAI. Bloomberg and Reuters revealed earlier this year that SoftBank was looking for a bridging loan of up to $40 billion, primarily to finance its involvement in a potentially $110 billion OpenAI financing round. SoftBank has already committed to making additional investments of $30 billion through Vision Fund 2, increasing its shareholding to 13% and bringing its overall commitment to OpenAI to roughly $64.6 billion.
OpenAI’s new round is targeting a valuation in the hundreds of billions of dollars, with separate commitments of $30 billion from Nvidia and $50 billion from Amazon. For SoftBank, that kind of valuation gives its stake enough paper value to support large loans, even as the company takes on more leverage to finance AI bets.
Why SoftBank Wants a Margin Loan Now
SoftBank has spent the past two years reshaping its balance sheet to lean harder into artificial intelligence. It has sold its entire $5.8 billion Nvidia stake, trimmed a $4.8 billion T‑Mobile US position, and cut staff to free up cash for OpenAI and other AI deals. A margin loan backed by OpenAI shares would give SoftBank new liquidity without forcing more immediate asset sales.
However, borrowing against a single high‑growth tech stake carries clear risk. If OpenAI’s valuation or secondary‑market pricing falls, SoftBank could face margin calls or pressure to post extra collateral. The company is betting that AI momentum will keep OpenAI’s value rising fast enough to offset that danger.
SoftBank’s hunt for a $10 billion margin loan shows how aggressively it is positioning around OpenAI. The loan would sit alongside a separate $40 billion bridge facility and earlier multi‑billion‑dollar commitments, making OpenAI one of the biggest single bets in the firm’s history.
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