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TOKYO and SAN FRANCISCO — The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is reportedly set to invest $500 million in the American generative AI pioneer OpenAI through one of its investment funds, according to The Information.
The investment by SoftBank Vision Fund would be part of a $6.5-billion funding round by OpenAI, The Information reports.
The round includes various investors, such as Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, an existing backer, and the Santa Clara, California-based AI chip maker NVIDIA, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The round would value OpenAI at $150 billion, The Information reports.
See more: OpenAI Reportedly Losing About $5 Billion a Year
SoftBank Vision Fund says it supports the full-stack AI ecosystem, including infrastructure, hardware and applications.
The fund’s portfolio focuses on a large group of companies in the AI market: Automation Anywhere, Arm, Clarity AI, Cohesity, Glean, Observe AI, NVIDIA and many others.
SoftBank Group is a holding company with over 1,200 subsidiaries, including the telecommunications company SoftBank Corp.
See more: Is OpenAI’s New o1 Model the Big Step Forward We’ve Been Waiting For?
