--- title: "SoftBank Scrambles To Raise $22.5 Billion For OpenAI By Year-End, May Tap Arm Stake To Back Debt As AI Spending Pressure Mounts: Report" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/270373304.md" description: "SoftBank is urgently seeking $22.5 billion to fund OpenAI by year-end, using asset sales, borrowing, and investment pullbacks. It sold stakes in Nvidia and T-Mobile, slowed Vision Fund deals, and may use Arm Holdings for margin loans. The funding supports SoftBank's $30 billion commitment to OpenAI, amid rising AI costs and competition. OpenAI is exploring a $100 billion funding round and a potential IPO, aiming for a $750 billion valuation." datetime: "2025-12-20T03:04:26.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/270373304.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/270373304.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/270373304.md) --- # SoftBank Scrambles To Raise $22.5 Billion For OpenAI By Year-End, May Tap Arm Stake To Back Debt As AI Spending Pressure Mounts: Report **SoftBank Group** (OTC:SFTFB) (OTC:SFTBY) is reportedly racing to assemble $22.5 billion in funding for **OpenAI** by year-end, leaning on asset sales, potential borrowing, and a sweeping pullback in other investments as the cost of competing in artificial intelligence soars. ## **SoftBank Sells Assets, Freezes Deals To Fund OpenAI Bet** SoftBank has already sold its entire $5.8 billion stake in **Nvidia Corp** (NASDAQ:NVDA) and offloaded about $4.8 billion worth of **T-Mobile U.S.** (NASDAQ:TMUS) shares as CEO **Masayoshi Son** prioritizes funding OpenAI. The Japanese conglomerate has sharply slowed dealmaking at its **Vision Fund**, with any investment exceeding $50 million now requiring Son's direct approval, signaling an "all-in" focus on AI, according to a Reuters report published Friday. The company is also exploring monetization of other assets, including portions of its **Didi Global** stake, and continues preparations for a **PayPay** initial public offering that could raise more than $20 billion next year, the report said. Softbank did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment. **See Also: Oracle’s $10 Billion OpenAI Data Center Bet Faces Fresh Doubts After Financing Partner Pulls Out — Is The Deal In Jeopardy?** ## **Arm Holdings Emerges As Key Source Of Capital** SoftBank may also tap margin loans backed by its ownership in **Arm Holdings** (NASDAQ:ARM), according to Reuters. The firm has boosted its margin loan capacity by $6.5 billion, lifting its total unused borrowing headroom to $11.5 billion. Arm's shares have surged to nearly three times their IPO price, giving SoftBank greater collateral flexibility to support additional borrowing. _Subscribe to the_ Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter _to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox._ ## **Why OpenAI Needs The Money Now** The funding commitment stems from SoftBank's April agreement to invest up to $30 billion in OpenAI, contingent on the company transitioning to a for-profit structure — a move completed in October. OpenAI is facing surging costs to train and operate AI models while competition from **Alphabet Inc.'s** (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) **Google** intensifies. Softbank and OpenAI are also investors in **Stargate**, a massive AI data center initiative seen as critical to maintaining U.S. leadership in AI. ## **OpenAI Explores $100 Billion Funding Round, Eyes $750 Billion Valuation** OpenAI has also reportedly held early-stage discussions with investors about raising up to $100 billion at an estimated valuation of around $750 billion. If finalized, the round would represent a significant jump from the company's reported $500 billion valuation in October, when current and former OpenAI employees sold about $6.6 billion worth of shares to investors. The **Microsoft Corp** (NASDAQ:MSFT)-backed startup is also said to be preparing for what could become one of the largest initial public offerings on record. Previously, it was reported that the company could submit filings to U.S. regulators as early as the second half of 2026, with a possible valuation approaching $1 trillion. **Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings** show that Microsoft maintains a favorable long-term outlook, even as its short and medium-term performance trends remain negative, with more detailed metrics available on the platform. _Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by_ following this link_._ **Read Next:** - **Microsoft Inks Green Energy Deals To Fuel AI** **_Disclaimer:_** _This content was partially produced with the help of_ Benzinga Neuro _and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors._ _Image via Shutterstock_ ### Related Stocks - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) ## Related News & Research - [ChatGPT app hits 1 billion monthly active users in record time, data shows](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288485266.md) - [Anthropic IPO filing sends Zoom shares to highest since 2022](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288335139.md) - [OpenAI Introduces New Role-Specific Plugins, Sites, Annotations That Help Teams Do More With Codex](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288454622.md) - [BREAKINGVIEWS-Anthropic IPO could train a large M&A model](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288571803.md) - [INSTANT VIEW-Anthropic IPO filing ratifies Wall Street's AI obsession](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288321140.md)