Prime Highlights:
SoftBank pledges to spend $3 billion per year for itself and its subsidiaries to utilize OpenAI’s technologies.
The companies launch SB OpenAI Japan to exclusively market OpenAI’s enterprise tools to major Japanese businesses.
Key Background:
SoftBank has announced a significant commitment to OpenAI, pledging to spend $3 billion annually for itself and its subsidiaries to leverage OpenAI’s technology. The two companies also revealed the formation of a new joint venture, “SB OpenAI Japan,” aimed at exclusively marketing OpenAI’s enterprise technologies to major businesses in Japan.
This strategic collaboration will grant SoftBank and its subsidiaries access to a range of OpenAI’s tools, including ChatGPT Enterprise, OpenAI’s API, custom models, and new agent products like “Operator,” which performs web-based tasks such as planning vacations or filling out forms. Additionally, SoftBank will gain access to OpenAI’s upcoming Deep Research agent, designed for multi-step web-based analysis. All of these tools will be branded as part of SoftBank’s Cristal Intelligence suite.
The partnership also marks a further integration of OpenAI’s technologies into SoftBank’s operations, including its British chip design subsidiary, Arm, which will utilize OpenAI’s products to enhance productivity across its business.
This collaboration follows recent reports that OpenAI is in talks to raise up to $40 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank, which could potentially value OpenAI at $340 billion. Should this funding round succeed, SoftBank would surpass Microsoft as OpenAI’s largest investor. Part of the investment may support the Stargate initiative, a joint venture involving SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle, which focuses on advancing U.S. AI infrastructure.
SoftBank’s founder, Masayoshi Son, expressed confidence that artificial general intelligence (AGI) could be realized within the next decade, with large enterprises playing a key role in its development. The announcement underscores SoftBank’s growing commitment to AI and its strategic positioning within the sector.
