一位接近孙正义的人士称，对OpenAI的投资符合软银对资本密集型商业模式部署现金的渴望。OpenAI allows employees to sell shares worth around $1.5 billion to SoftBank. Two people familiar with the matter said the new funding would allow the Japanese tech group to acquire larger shares in the artificial intelligence startup and allow current and former OpenAI employees to cash out their shares. One of the people familiar with the matter said that employees will decide whether to participate in the new takeover offer before December 24. People familiar with the matter revealed that the deal was promoted by SoftBank billionaire founder and CEO Masayoshi Sun. After investing 0.5 billion dollars in OpenAI's last round of financing, Sun Zhengyi has insisted on increasing his shares in the startup. One of those familiar with the matter said that the takeover offer had nothing to do with OpenAI's potential plans to restructure the company into a for-profit enterprise.
This news highlights Sun Zhengyi's interest in the field of artificial intelligence and his support for the most valuable private companies. SoftBank is an early investor in Arm, and Sun Zhengyi said at a recent conference that he is saving “tens of billions of dollars” to take the “next step” in the field of artificial intelligence. He has previously invested in Apple, Qualcomm, and Alibaba.
SoftBank's Vision Fund recently invested in artificial intelligence startups Lean, Perplexity, and Poolside. SoftBank's two vision funds have approximately 470 portfolio companies and $1,60 billion in assets.
A person close to Sun Zhengyi said that the investment in OpenAI is in line with SoftBank's desire to deploy cash into capital-intensive business models.
