Amid the increasingly fierce global competition in technology investment, SoftBank Group recently applied for a $5 billion loan from global banks. This move aims to further strengthen its financial reserves and help its founder Masayoshi Son accelerate his efforts in the artificial intelligence (AI) field.
According to Bloomberg, Son plans to secure this loan by pledging shares of its chip division, ARM. Such a margin loan means that SoftBank can use its own stocks as collateral to borrow more funds, which will then be invested in promising technology projects. Specifically, this funding will mainly be used for SoftBank's increased investment in OpenAI this year.
This year, Son has launched an ambitious investment campaign, promising to invest up to $3 billion in OpenAI and successfully acquiring the robotics division of Swiss engineering group ABB for $5.4 billion. These series of investments demonstrate SoftBank's determination and ambition in the global AI boom.
Notably, ARM's stock price has risen by 38% this year, giving SoftBank greater confidence and flexibility in financial operations. Son is pushing a large-scale project called "Stargate," planning to build a series of data centers in the United States in collaboration with OpenAI and Oracle, with an investment of up to $50 billion. In addition, SoftBank is also evaluating the possibility of establishing large-scale industrial manufacturing centers in the United States, including the concept of building production lines for AI industrial robots.
According to SoftBank's financial reports, as of March 2025, SoftBank has already obtained a cumulative margin loan of $13.5 billion by pledging ARM shares, of which $5 billion remains unused. The newly applied $5 billion loan will increase SoftBank's total margin loan amount to $18.5 billion. Although SoftBank has not made further comments on this loan application, its layout in the AI field has already shown strong momentum.
While investors are paying attention, it remains to be seen whether SoftBank can continue to exert its influence in the competitive technology market in the future.
