SoftBank just pulled off a huge financing move, lining up a $40 billion bridge loan from 21 major banks to fund its latest push into AI. This is the biggest dollar loan SoftBank has ever taken, aimed primarily at injecting $30 billion into OpenAI via its Vision Fund 2.
The loan is unsecured and set to mature in March 2027, which means SoftBank will need to refinance, sell assets, or raise equity before then. The rest of the $40 billion, about $10 billion, is reserved for general company needs.
The lineup behind this deal reads like a banking who's who: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and MUFG Bank are the lead arrangers. Several others, including HSBC and BNP Paribas, joined as sub-underwriters, completing a large syndicate that spreads the risk across global financial hubs from Tokyo to London and New York.
SoftBank began tapping the loan right after closing it in late March 2026. They took $10 billion on April 1, with plans to draw another two $10 billion installments in July and October. This steady release of funds will keep the OpenAI investment flowing smoothly across the year.
To put the scale into perspective, SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 was initially about $56 billion. Allocating $30 billion to a single private tech company is a massive bet on AI’s future. The loan's yen equivalent is roughly 6,384 billion yen, highlighting the size of this commitment.
The temporary nature of this bridge loan means SoftBank is banking on either refinancing the debt or finding other financing options by early next year. This move indicates their confidence in AI’s potential, especially through OpenAI.
This loan deal contrasts with other recent financial stories in the crypto and tech sector, such as BitMart’s withdrawal slowdown and the increasing adoption of blockchain in banking, like KB Kookmin Bank’s upcoming cross-border payments.
