SoftBank has obtained a new $40 billion loan to support its $30 billion pledge to invest in OpenAI, which was part of the AI model developer’s record-setting $110 billion funding round last month, the Japanese conglomerate announced on Friday.
What stands out is that the loan is unsecured and carries a 12-month term, meaning it needs to be repaid or refinanced by next year. This could suggest that the lenders anticipate OpenAI’s highly anticipated public listing will indeed happen later this year, as some news outlets, including CNBC, have reported. The loan facility is provided by JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and four Japanese banking institutions.
Should OpenAI’s IPO, expected to be among the largest listings ever, materialize this year, it would presumably provide SoftBank with the necessary capital to settle the debt within such a brief timeframe. SoftBank’s recent $30 billion commitment to OpenAI increases its total investment in the creator of ChatGPT to over $60 billion.