SoftBank Group has reopened negotiations with a group of major lenders seeking a $10 billion loan secured by its stake in OpenAI, after earlier discussions broke down over concerns about how to value shares in a privately held company, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
In an effort to ease lender hesitation, the Japanese technology conglomerate is now offering to personally guarantee repayment of the loan. That means banks would have a claim against SoftBank itself — not just the OpenAI shares used as collateral — if the value of those shares were to decline.
The group of lenders involved in the deal is expected to include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Mizuho Financial Group, the sources said. SoftBank and OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment, while Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Mizuho all declined to comment.
This type of financing arrangement, known as a margin loan, functions similarly to a line of credit. It is part of SoftBank’s broader strategy to fund its aggressive push into artificial intelligence investments.
Originally, SoftBank sought a loan backed entirely by its OpenAI stake, with no additional guarantee. Banks objected to that structure because it would have left them with no recourse beyond the pledged shares if the collateral lost value — and SoftBank would not have been required to repay the debt under those terms.
The renewed discussions reflect a broader wariness among lenders when it comes to loans tied to stakes in private companies. Unlike publicly traded stocks, privately held company shares are harder to appraise and more difficult to sell quickly if a borrower defaults.
It remains unclear whether lenders have specific reservations about OpenAI’s current valuation. The estimated worth of major artificial intelligence firms, including OpenAI and Anthropic, has skyrocketed in recent years as competition intensifies across the AI industry.
SoftBank has emerged as one of the largest financial backers of OpenAI, driven by founder Masayoshi Son’s vision of making the conglomerate a central player in the AI sector. The company has committed more than $60 billion to OpenAI and related AI infrastructure projects, including the Stargate data center venture announced alongside OpenAI and Oracle last year.
To fund those commitments, SoftBank has leaned heavily on debt and asset-backed financing. In recent months, the company explored a $5 billion margin loan backed by shares in chip designer Arm Holdings — a publicly traded company, which made that collateral easier for lenders to assess and potentially sell.
Bloomberg News previously reported that SoftBank had initially sought at least $10 billion through an OpenAI-backed margin loan before scaling the target back to roughly $6 billion after running into lender resistance.
One development that could change the picture: OpenAI confidentially filed paperwork in June for a U.S. initial public offering. If the company eventually goes public, SoftBank’s stake would become much easier for lenders to value and liquidate if needed.
SoftBank is also working against a deadline — it must repay a $40 billion bridge loan used to help finance its OpenAI investment by March 2027. The company has indicated that repayment would likely come through the use of existing assets and additional financing measures.
Under Son’s direction, SoftBank has significantly ramped up its AI spending this year, making investments across data centers, semiconductors, and robotics as it works to establish itself at the heart of the industry’s rapid growth.
