Tokyo, April 29, 2026, 00:59 (JST)
- SoftBank Group slid 9.86% to finish at 5,268 yen in Tokyo, leaving the Japanese tech giant sharply lower and standing out as a key casualty of the OpenAI-driven selloff.
- SoftBank’s bet on OpenAI is at the heart of its AI play, underscored by a planned $30 billion follow-on investment via Vision Fund 2.
- New board appointments, a dividend proposal, and fresh details on the shareholder meeting landed too, with the company disclosing more on governance and capital returns as its stock faced mounting pressure.
SoftBank Group Corp. slid nearly 10% in Tokyo on Tuesday, reacting to news that OpenAI failed to hit user and revenue targets. Shares finished the session at 5,268 yen, a drop of 9.86%.
SoftBank’s stock took a sharp hit, as investors now see it less as a general tech conglomerate and more as a high-risk wager on artificial intelligence—particularly via OpenAI, the ChatGPT creator.
Earlier this month, SoftBank confirmed it had completed the initial $10 billion slice of its planned $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI. Two further $10 billion installments are lined up—one for July 1, another October 1, both in Japan. The first payment came from borrowings under a bridge facility, essentially a stopgap loan until longer-term financing is secured.
OpenAI is trailing its latest user and revenue targets, Reuters reported, quoting the Wall Street Journal. CFO Sarah Friar has reportedly told colleagues she’s concerned about whether the company can cover upcoming data-center bills if revenue growth doesn’t pick up. Compute—referring to the servers and chips that power AI—remains a major cost.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar shot back in an email to Reuters: “This is ridiculous,” they wrote, insisting that the company remains focused on “buying as much compute as we can.” Still, shares tied to OpenAI kept sliding. Reuters
Other OpenAI-linked stocks took a hit as well. Oracle skidded 3.4%, CoreWeave slipped 2.8%, and Arm Holdings—SoftBank’s unit—tumbled 6.3%. Oracle reportedly landed a $300 billion compute deal with OpenAI. CoreWeave just last month signed its own $11.9 billion contract.
Todd Schoenberger, chief investment officer at CrossCheck Management, told Reuters that when one AI-linked stock takes a hit, it can set off a “ripple effect across the board.” Allan Small, senior investment adviser at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth, pointed to the OpenAI worries as a sign of “just more competition,” not necessarily a signal that AI is cooling off. Reuters
Questions are swirling around SoftBank’s funding strategy. Reuters, referencing Bloomberg News, reported last week that the firm is looking for a $10 billion margin loan using its OpenAI holdings as collateral. That kind of loan—secured by securities—can get riskier if those shares drop in value.
SoftBank stepped into debt markets as well, setting terms on April 16 for new senior notes in both dollars and euros. The company said it plans to use the proceeds to redeem existing foreign-currency senior notes and chip away at the bridge loan, which is primarily linked to its follow-on investments in OpenAI.
SoftBank’s filings on Tuesday packed in some corporate shifts behind the scenes. The firm put forward Tetsuji Ohashi, a senior adviser at Komatsu, along with Miwa Ohmori, an outside director from Mizuho Securities, for board seats as outside members. SoftBank also suggested a year-end dividend of 5.50 yen per share for the fiscal year ending March 2026.
There’s no mystery here: if OpenAI can’t ramp up revenue to match its growing expenses, SoftBank might feel the squeeze, both in terms of share price and funding options. Still, should OpenAI’s sales rebound or a major IPO move closer, that risk could ease fast. SoftBank’s stake is now big, focused, and out in the open.
SoftBank has circled May 13 for its fiscal 2025 earnings release and briefing. Board and dividend proposals go to a shareholder vote during the annual meeting set for June 24.
