SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) is in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in OpenAI, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, sources said. If finalized, this would mark a record-breaking private funding

SoftBank is in talks to invest as much as $25bn into OpenAI, in a deal which would make it the ChatGPT maker’s biggest financial backer, as the pair partner on a massive new artificial intelligence infrastructure project.

SoftBank Group is negotiating to lead a $40 billion funding round for AI developer OpenAI, which could value the company at $300 billion. This move comes as competition heats up with Chinese startup DeepSeek's low-cost AI model.