SoftBank усиливает свои позиции в искусственном интеллекте, инвестировав $41 млрд в OpenAI Translation: SoftBank Strengthens Its Position in Artificial Intelligence with $41 Billion Investment in OpenAI

The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group has finalized a $41 billion investment deal with the AI startup OpenAI, according to a report from CNBC. This transaction marks one of the largest private funding rounds in history.

SoftBank now holds an 11% stake in the creator of ChatGPT.

The investment in OpenAI is part of CEO Masayoshi Son’s strategy to position the company as a leader in the artificial intelligence market. The Asian firm was among the first investors in Nvidia but sold its entire stake for $5.8 billion in November.

SoftBank initially invested $7.5 billion in OpenAI in April, bringing in an additional $11 billion from co-investors. At the end of December, it allocated another $22.5 billion to the startup.

Reports from media suggest that Sam Altman’s team is preparing to take the company public with a valuation of $1 trillion. Sources from Reuters anticipate that the filing will occur in the latter half of 2026.

A successful IPO would represent a significant milestone for the startup’s investors, including Thrive Capital, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and Microsoft. The latter has invested a total of $13 billion in OpenAI; if the company is valued at $1 trillion, Microsoft’s stake would amount to $270 billion.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is exploring ways to monetize its vast audience of free users, which has reached 900 million weekly. According to The Information, the company is developing advertising models designed to be unobtrusive.

Several integration formats are under consideration:

Currently, only about 5% of active users pay for subscriptions. Introducing ads could generate revenue from the remaining users.

It was anticipated that the gross margin from this initiative would be comparable to that of Meta (80-85%), and total revenue from the free segment could reach $110 billion by 2030. This would help cover operational costs associated with AI model operations.

Altman previously referred to advertising as a «last resort,» but in October softened his stance, stating that he found it «unpleasant but feasible.» The company is already hiring veterans from the marketing industry and developing commercial functions such as integration with Shopify and the payment system Stripe.

It is worth noting that experts concluded in November that the developer of ChatGPT might still be spending more on inference than it earns.