SoftBank Launches $2.9 Billion Bond Sale Amid Firm’s AI Bets

SoftBank Group Corp. is returning to the overseas bond market for the second time this year amid an aggressive fundraising push for AI, led by its bet on OpenAI.

The Japanese technology investment giant launched a $2 billion sale of dollar notes in two parts and €750 million ($871 million) in euro-denominated notes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The longer-tenored dollar tranche is set to yield 8.25%, while the euro bond is slated to yield 6.5%, said the person, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

With a heavy emphasis on new AI investments, SoftBank’s billionaire founder Masayoshi Son has pledged as much as $500 billion for a project known as “Stargate” and announced a planned $30 billion stake in OpenAI earlier this year. Japanese companies have sold a record amount of overseas bonds this year, topping $100 billion, as they step up acquisitions and higher yen debt yields spurs caution in the local market.

SoftBank has raised at least $24 billion in loans and bonds so far in 2025, in one of the biggest-ever funding pushes by the company, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The company has been active in its home bond market too, in April pricing ¥600 billion ($4 billion) of notes that targeted individual investors, in one of the largest ever such issuances in the nation.

During a global investor call Tuesday, SoftBank’s management said the firm still plans to complete a $30 billion investment tranche in OpenAI by year-end, without providing a more specific timeline and declining to disclose its current stake in OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter.