According to BlockBeats, SoftBank Group has secured a $15 billion bridge loan to finance its artificial intelligence investments, with Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and JPMorgan as lead underwriters. This marks one of SoftBank's largest financings to date, involving 21 banks. Mizuho Bank will contribute $1.35 billion, SMBC $1.25 billion, and JPMorgan $1 billion. HSBC and Barclays will jointly provide $950 million, while Goldman Sachs, Mitsubishi UFJ, and five other banks will contribute a total of $850 million.
The funding will support SoftBank's ambitious plans to influence the development of artificial intelligence over several years. Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto disclosed during last week's financial report meeting that the initial agenda includes a $6.5 billion acquisition of chip design company Ampere Computing and potential investments of up to $30 billion in OpenAI.