Masayoshi Son, the chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., addressed shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, June 27, 2025.
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SoftBank is fully committed to OpenAI, according to CEO Masayoshi Son, as the Japanese technology powerhouse aims to achieve its goal of “artificial superintelligence.”
This year, the conglomerate has boosted its investments in OpenAI and has been involved in joint initiatives, including the $500 billion Stargate project.
Son stated that SoftBank’s total intended investment in OpenAI now stands at approximately 4.8 trillion Japanese yen (around $33.2 billion), even though the company is unlisted and currently not making a profit.
“I believe OpenAI will eventually go public and will become the most valuable company globally,” Son remarked, while acknowledging that investing in such a company requires a certain level of courage.
Son has held this belief for a long time. During the shareholders’ gathering, he recounted that prior to 2019, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approached him about SoftBank investing $10 billion into the company.
“I agreed to it because I had the financial capacity due to the success of the Vision Fund. But ultimately, Sam chose to speak with other potential investors, leading Microsoft to finalize the deal,” he explained.
Microsoft consequently secured an agreement to be the exclusive provider of computing resources for OpenAI’s research, products, and programming interfaces for developers. However, earlier this year, Microsoft lost its exclusive cloud status with OpenAI.
Current reports suggest that Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI may be strained. The tech giant has reportedly not approved an OpenAI restructuring plan that would transition it to a conventional for-profit model.
In light of these developments, Son expressed that Altman should have selected SoftBank over Microsoft as the initial partner, although he recognized that at that time, SoftBank was smaller and Microsoft had more extensive global supply chains, technical expertise, and brand recognition.
SoftBank has previously indicated that it might reduce its stake in OpenAI’s recent funding round from $30 billion to $20 billion if the company does not convert to a for-profit model by December 31.
Nonetheless, on Friday, Son reiterated his strong faith in OpenAI and confirmed that SoftBank intends to strengthen its partnership with the company, independent of Microsoft’s involvement.
Artificial superintelligence
Son’s confidence in OpenAI is largely linked to his vision for SoftBank to lead in the field of “artificial superintelligence,” which he defines as AI that surpasses human intelligence by 10,000 times.
On Friday, he expressed a desire for SoftBank to emerge as the largest platform provider for ASI over the next decade, aiming to be the “organizer of the industry in the era of artificial superintelligence.”
He mentioned that partnerships with OpenAI and British semiconductor firm Arm, which SoftBank purchased in 2016, would be crucial to achieving these aspirations.
Additionally, SoftBank has made significant AI-related investments this year, including a $6.5 billion acquisition of the U.S.-based chip designer Ampere.
Bloomberg News recently reported that Son is contemplating a $1 trillion industrial complex in the U.S. focused on AI development.
