SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is in preliminary discussions with officials from Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates, to raise up to $100 billion for a new artificial intelligence fund. The fund aims to acquire established, non-tech companies and optimize their operations using AI and robotics from Roze, SoftBank’s robotics unit.
This strategy marks a shift for SoftBank, moving away from investing in early-stage startups toward applying existing technologies to revenue-generating businesses. The initiative follows the company's recent completion of a $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI on October 1, 2026, which included a final $10 billion tranche.
SoftBank’s total investment in OpenAI now stands at approximately $64.6–65 billion, representing roughly 13% ownership. To finance this commitment, the company raised $11.1 billion in September 2026 through a high-yield corporate bond sale. Critics have raised concerns regarding the company's rising debt load and concentration risk.
Masayoshi Son has previously utilized Gulf capital, having raised nearly $100 billion for his 2017 Vision Fund with support from sovereign wealth funds like Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala. The performance of that fund remains a subject of debate due to a mix of significant gains and losses.
