SoftBank Increases AI Investment Through $15 Billion Syndicated Loan

Odaily Planet Daily reports that SoftBank Group will use a loan underwritten by Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and JPMorgan Chase to finance its artificial intelligence investments, demonstrating SoftBank's ability to secure funding for its grand ambitions. According to sources, this one-year bridge loan of 15 billion USD is one of SoftBank's largest financings to date and will be funded by 21 banks, with Mizuho Bank providing 1.35 billion USD, SMBC providing 1.25 billion USD, and JPMorgan Chase providing 1 billion USD. Additionally, HSBC and Barclays jointly contributed 950 million USD, while Goldman Sachs, Mitsubishi UFJ, and five other banks jointly contributed 850 million USD. This funding will support SoftBank's multi-year plan to influence the development process of artificial intelligence. CFO Yoshimitsu Goto revealed at last week's earnings conference that the initial agenda includes acquiring chip design company Ampere Computing for 6.5 billion USD and investing up to 30 billion USD in OpenAI. (Jin10)