OpenAI and Softbank Group announce $1 billion investment in SB Energy
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend an event to introduce artificial intelligence to businesses in Tokyo, Japan, on February 3, 2025.
Kim Kyung-Hoon | Reuters
OpenAI and SoftBank OpenAI announced plans to invest $1 billion in SB Energy as part of a strategic partnership that will support the creation of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The partnership is part of a $500 billion commitment from OpenAI, SoftBank and Stargate. Seer It was announced at the White House last January, according to a statement Friday. As part of the agreement, SB Energy will build and operate OpenAI’s 1.2 gigawatt data center site in Milam County, Texas. announced In September.
“The partnership with SB Energy brings together their strengths in data center infrastructure and energy development and OpenAI’s deep domain expertise in data center engineering,” OpenAI president Greg Brockman said in a statement Friday. he said. ““The result is a fast and reliable way to scale computing through large, highly optimized AI data centers.”
Backed by SB Energy, SoftBank and Ares Management. The company develops, owns and operates energy projects throughout the United States. It has offices in Redwood City, California, San Diego and Denver. website.
In addition to the investment, SB Energy also established a non-exclusive privileged partnership with OpenAI and SoftBank to develop “a new model for data center structures,” according to the statement. This model will combine OpenAI’s first-party data center design with SB Energy’s “proven expertise in speed, cost discipline and integrated energy delivery,” the companies said.
In the statement, it was stated that the company has several gigawatt data center campuses under development and the first facilities are under construction and are expected to be put into service this year.
SoftBank and OpenAI, led by Masayoshi Son, have become increasingly intertwined over the past year.
Two months after the Stargate project was announced, OpenAI said it had completed a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank, the largest private technology financing on record. In addition to the main investor Microsoft, the round also included participation from Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive.
SoftBank announced in November that it was selling its entire stake in chipmaker Nvidia for $5.83 billion to capitalize on its “all-in” bet on OpenAI.
The ChatGPT maker is burning through tons of cash and is still far from profitability, meaning it’s heavily reliant on outside capital.
OpenAI has signed more than $1.4 trillion in infrastructure deals in recent months to build the data centers it says are needed to meet growing demand. In November, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company was on track to generate more than $20 billion in annual revenue by 2025 and plans to increase sales to hundreds of billions by 2030.
WRISTWATCH: Judge rules Elon Musk’s lawsuit over OpenAI’s for-profit conversion can go to trial
