SoftBank Seeks $11 Billion in Junk Bonds to Fund Its OpenAI Stake

SoftBank has launched a bond sale of about $11 billion to fund its OpenAI investment^1,2,4. One account put the launch at over US$10 billion, citing a term sheet¹⁰. The group is seeking a record amount from high-yield investors, and part of the cash raised will be used to fund a follow-on investment⁷. Barron’s describes the sale as an AI jolt to the junk bond market⁷.

SoftBank, founded and led by Masayoshi Son, has committed nearly $65 billion to OpenAI, and the company and its banks are gauging investor interest⁴. Other reporting describes the raise as a bet that deepens SoftBank’s OpenAI debt risk¹¹, and as an $11 billion gamble on ChatGPT’s future by a group whose fortunes are now closely linked to the company¹³.

The debt structure

SoftBank wants to swap shorter obligations for longer-term debt, a move that could push the group past its own debt ceiling for a while, and OpenAI is expected to keep burning cash⁸. One account describes an increase in a facility from US$3.6bil to US$9bil to help finance the OpenAI investment⁵.

The financing arrives as investor appetite for AI-linked debt is being tested. SoftBank’s $50bn data centre group has slowed its initial public offering, facing market fears over an AI slowdown and lacklustre interest in new debt⁹. The same group that is being asked to buy the bonds has just declined to take the equity^7,9.

What to watch

Two prices now matter for the AI trade, not one: the equity multiple and the coupon. The junk bond market is being asked to absorb a record single issue tied to one private company’s cash burn^7,8. Pricing and order books on this deal are the cleanest near-term read on how much AI credit risk high-yield investors are prepared to hold^4,7.

SoftBank is one of the world’s largest investors in artificial intelligence⁶, and Son has been publicly aligned with OpenAI’s Sam Altman since an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in February 2025^1,3. Whether the data centre listing resumes is the second signal to follow⁹, and the size of the final book against the launch target is the third^2,12.

The structural point is that the AI build-out has moved from being funded out of corporate cash flow to being funded in the credit market. A group that has committed nearly $65 billion to a single private counterparty is now borrowing against that position at high-yield terms^4,5, with the proceeds going to a company that is expected to keep burning cash⁸. That makes credit spreads, rather than earnings alone, a live input to how fast the investment continues^7,13.