SoftBank Group Corp. is pursuing a $40 billion loan to finance its investment in OpenAI, marking its largest-ever dollar-denominated borrowing. The bridge loan, spanning approximately 12 months, will be underwritten by four lenders including JPMorgan Chase, according to sources familiar with the matter. This massive financing underscores founder Masayoshi Son's aggressive push to position SoftBank as a central player in the global artificial intelligence expansion.

The $30 billion new investment adds to over $30 billion already committed to OpenAI, with SoftBank now holding an 11% stake as of December. The Japanese conglomerate has sold assets including its Nvidia position to fund this AI bet, making OpenAI one of its largest holdings alongside a 90% stake in Arm Holdings. S&P recently lowered SoftBank's credit outlook, expressing concerns about the impact on liquidity and asset quality.

Bloomberg Intelligence describes the OpenAI investment as a drag on SoftBank's credit profile, with the company needing to raise $40 billion this year. Despite bond volatility risks, SoftBank benefits from strong access to the yen market and can generate more than $10 billion from asset sales. The company's shares now track ChatGPT's competitive performance against rivals like Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude.