SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has expressed regret over selling the company's stake in Nvidia to fund investments in OpenAI and other AI ventures. Speaking at the FII Priority Asia forum in Tokyo earlier this week, Son revealed that offloading the Nvidia shares was a painful but necessary move.
"I don't want to sell a single share. I just had more need for money to invest in OpenAI and other projects," Son stated, adding, "I was crying to sell Nvidia shares".
In November, SoftBank disclosed that it had sold its entire Nvidia holding for $5.8 billion. The decision to sell was driven purely by the need to raise capital for AI investments and not due to a lack of confidence in Nvidia. According to Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank's CFO, the investment in OpenAI was substantial, requiring the company to use existing assets to finance the new investment. SoftBank has committed $30 billion to OpenAI and is reportedly planning to invest in a $1 trillion AI manufacturing hub in Arizona. In February 2025, Son joined prominent figures like former US President Donald Trump, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to announce a $500 billion investment in "Stargate," a project focused on developing artificial intelligence.
The sale of Nvidia shares triggered a market reaction, with Nvidia's shares dropping by three percent following the disclosure. SoftBank exited at approximately $181.58 per share, which was about 14% below Nvidia's all-time high of $212.19. This marks the company's second complete exit from the AI chipmaker. In 2019, SoftBank sold a $4 billion stake in Nvidia for $3.6 billion, a move that proved costly as those shares would have been worth over $150 billion a few years later.
Despite the emotional difficulty of selling the Nvidia stake, Son emphasized the critical need for capital for future AI investments and dismissed concerns about an AI bubble, predicting its immense long-term economic impact. He argued that if AI could earn 10% of the global gross domestic product over the long term, it would more than compensate for trillions of dollars in cumulative spending. Son believes that those who talk about a bubble around AI investment are "not smart enough".
SoftBank's increased commitment to OpenAI involves structuring its investment in three tranches, bringing its total exposure to over $4.2 billion, representing approximately 7.3% of OpenAI's share capital. The investment timeline extends into the second quarter of 2025, with disbursements contingent on technical and commercial milestones.
The company has also been divesting other assets and securing financing to fund its AI ambitions. This includes selling $9.17 billion worth of T-Mobile stock and expanding a margin loan backed by Arm Holdings shares.
SoftBank's strategic shift towards generative AI involves reducing exposure to Nvidia and reallocating capital to AI platforms like OpenAI. Masayoshi Son believes that AI infrastructure is becoming a commodity, while generative models create real differentiation.
