**SoftBank Exits Nvidia, Redirects Capital to OpenAI Amid AI Sector Volatility**
SoftBank Group has sold all its shares in Nvidia, completely severing ties with the AI chipmaker that has been at the forefront of the sector’s historic rally. The Japanese conglomerate disclosed its exit in a financial filing on Tuesday, revealing that both the company and its asset management subsidiary sold their entire Nvidia stake for $5.83 billion in October.
This move marks SoftBank’s second exit from Nvidia, following an initial $4 billion investment in 2017, which was sold in 2019. The group later re-entered before offloading its position again last month.
**Shifting Focus: From Hardware to OpenAI**
SoftBank is now redirecting capital toward OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, even as the AI innovator faces mounting losses and controversy surrounding its CEO, Sam Altman. The asset reallocation comes alongside a $9.17 billion partial sale of SoftBank’s T-Mobile stake, all part of an “asset monetization” strategy to fund a massive $40 billion investment in OpenAI by the end of the year.
“SoftBank’s investment in OpenAI was very large—the company had to use its existing assets to finance new investments,” said Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto in a press briefing, as cited by CNBC.
**Massive Investment and Financing Structure**
To finance its OpenAI investment, SoftBank issued $4.1 billion (¥620 billion) in yen bonds, $4.2 billion in foreign debt, and arranged bridge loans of $8.5 billion for OpenAI and $6.5 billion for ABB Robotics. According to SoftBank’s filing, the company agreed on March 31 to invest up to $40 billion in OpenAI, with $30 billion coming directly from its own capital—$10 billion funded in April and a further $22.5 billion set for December.
The robotics acquisition aligns with SoftBank’s mission to “realize artificial super intelligence (ASI) for the advancement of humanity,” focusing efforts on AI chips, robots, data centers, and energy, and investing in leading generative AI firms.
**Strong Gains Despite Sector Concerns**
SoftBank’s Vision Fund recorded a remarkable investment gain of $23.4 billion (¥3.54 trillion) for the quarter, with $14.3 billion (¥2.16 trillion) attributed to marking up its OpenAI holdings to a pre-money valuation of $260 billion. These gains more than doubled SoftBank’s net income to $19.3 billion (¥2.924 trillion), up 190.9% from the previous year.
Industry experts noted the significant shift in SoftBank’s strategy. “SoftBank’s sale of its Nvidia stake is a strong, but hugely unexpected, move away from hardware and toward AI projects and the data that fuels them,” said Jiahao Sun, CEO of decentralized AI platform FLock.io, to Decrypt.
**Market Warning Signs and Industry Dynamics**
The move comes as market watchers express skepticism about the long-term payoff of massive AI infrastructure spending. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Nvidia’s main supplier, posted 16.9% revenue growth for October—its slowest pace since February 2024. Meanwhile, short-seller Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management recently revealed bearish positions on Nvidia, even as tech giants Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft are expected to collectively spend over $400 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025.
Nvidia (NVDA) shares dipped 1.46% in pre-market trading after closing at $199.05. SoftBank Group (SFTBY), which ended the prior session up 2.74% at $72.40, was little changed before market open, according to Yahoo Finance data.
As SoftBank pivots from chip hardware toward AI innovation and data, investors and analysts will be watching closely to see if this strategic gamble pays off in an increasingly volatile sector.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/tech/softbank-dumps-entire-5-8b-nvidia-stake-to-double-down-on-openai-bet/