SoftBank's $64.6B OpenAI Bet Makes It an AI Spending Proxy as Shares Fall 10.8%
SoftBank has become a market proxy for AI capital spending through its $64.6B OpenAI stake, 90% ownership of Arm and data-centre developer SB Energy, yet its shares fell 10.8% on Friday as the cost of insuring its debt hit a four-year high. The company borrowed at record yields to fund the OpenAI position while OpenAI's IPO delay to 2027 pushes back any return; SB Energy's IPO filing projects $439B in contracted revenue despite operating no data centres and depending heavily on OpenAI.
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Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) · 2026-11-06 21
SoftBank trades as a proxy for AI spending through its $64.6B OpenAI stake, 90% of Arm and data-centre builder SB Energy.
And its shares fell 10.8% on Friday as the cost of insuring its debt (credit risk) hit a 4-year high.
It has borrowed at record yields to fund the OpenAI stake, while OpenAI’s IPO delay to 2027 pushes back any return.
SB Energy’s IPO filing projects $439B in contracted revenue, yet it operates no data centres and depends heavily on OpenAI.
After midterm wins, democratic governors in states hosting planned sites may slow development.
And one-third of planned 2027-2028 US data-centre capacity are in those states, though most 2027 projects already secured power and chips.
