OpenAI and SoftBank Partner on Enterprise AI Solutions in Japan

OpenAI and the SoftBank Group agreed to establish a joint venture company that will market enterprise artificial intelligence solutions to major companies in Japan.

The joint venture, SB OpenAI Japan, will market enterprise AI called “Cristal intelligence,” which will be developed and marketed by the two companies, according to a Monday (Feb. 3) press release .

In addition, SoftBank will spend $3 billion annually to integrate Cristal intelligence and existing tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise across its group companies, according to the release.

“This initiative will not only transform the way SoftBank Group operates but also revolutionize the way companies work in Japan and around the globe,” SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said in the release.

SoftBank Group companies like SoftBank and Arm will use Cristal intelligence to drive innovation, boost productivity and automate over 100 million workflows, according to the release.

The companies will have priority access in Japan to OpenAI’s latest and most advanced AI models, the release said.

Together with OpenAI, they aim to develop AI agents that will automate generating financial reports, drafting documents, managing customer inquiries and other everyday tasks, per the release.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the release: “This partnership with SoftBank will accelerate our vision for bringing transformative AI to some of the world’s most influential companies — starting with Japan.”

It was reported Thursday (Jan. 30) that OpenAI is in talks for a $40 billion funding round that would value it at $300 billion, and that the round would be led by SoftBank, which would invest between $15 billion and $25 billion.

Some of the capital raised in the round would go toward the $18 billion OpenAI has committed to contribute to the Stargate AI infrastructure joint venture, which also includes SoftBank, while other capital would support OpenAI’s money-losing operations.

Stargate is an up-to-$500 billion project announced by President Donald Trump that aims to build big AI-focused data centers in the United States. The project’s equity partners are SoftBank, which will be responsible for funding the venture, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX , an AI-focused sovereign wealth fund based in Dubai.

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