SoftBank Reportedly Aims to Borrow $16 Billion for AI ‘Stargate’

SoftBank is reportedly seeking up to $16.5 in financing for the so-called “Stargate” AI project.

This bridge loan would be the Japanese conglomerate’s largest ever facility denominated in dollars, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (April 1), citing sources familiar with the matter.

The report notes that SoftBank is looking for financing as it tries to launch a $500 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure effort in the U.S., as well as robotics and semiconductor projects.

While the company is working with OpenAI, Oracle and Dubai’s MGX on the Stargate project, SoftBank is the primary financier. Announced by President Donald Trump in January, Stargate aims to build big AI-focused data centers in the U.S., with the first of these centers — a 500,000-square-foot facility — being planned for Abilene, Texas.

Sources told Bloomberg the bridge loan could help SoftBank as it prepares to lead OpenAI’s $40 billion funding round, which is being called the largest financing round of all time, and which could value the startup at $300 billion.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said in December the company would invest $100 billion in the United States in the next four years, creating at least 100,000 jobs focused on AI and related infrastructure. The executive made the announcement at Mar-a-Lago, home to then-President-elect Trump.

“My confidence level on the economy of the United States has tremendously increased with his victory,” Son said. “President Trump is a double-down president. I’m going to have to double down.”

More recent reports have SoftBank planning to invest $1 trillion in AI infrastructure projects in the U.S. A report last week by Japan’s Nikkei outlined that effort, which would include robots designed to help American employers dealing with labor shortages.

The news follows reports Monday (March 31) that large portions of that funding are contingent on OpenAI’s efforts to restructure into an independent for-profit company. If the company can’t reach that goal by year’s end, a provision in the round would limit the financing to $20 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Another report from CNBC also mentions a similar provision, but said the funding would be reduced by $10 billion if OpenAI can’t make the for-profit switch before the end of the year.

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