SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is seeking to raise as much as $100 billion from Gulf region investors to deepen his bet on artificial intelligence, in what would rank among the Japanese billionaire's largest AI fundraising efforts to date.

Citing multiple people familiar with the matter, reports indicate that Son has held discussions in recent weeks with senior figures in the Gulf region, including the United Arab Emirates, regarding the potential fundraising. The capital raised would be used to establish a fund that acquires companies and improves their operations through AI and other advanced technologies. SoftBank's robotics and physical AI unit, Roze, is expected to play a key role in this process. The people also emphasized that negotiations with Gulf investors are not guaranteed to succeed.

The fundraising plan comes as SoftBank faces mounting pressures: OpenAI has postponed its listing plans, market concerns over SoftBank's excessive AI exposure continue to intensify, and SoftBank's share price has retreated more than 30% from its June peak. At the same time, the news injects a new variable into the AI investment boom at a critical juncture.

Son Returns to the Gulf

This fundraising effort is not the first time Son has sought substantial support from the Gulf region. In 2017, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) both participated in SoftBank's first Vision Fund, which reached $100 billion in size. As of the end of June this year, Vision Fund I had accumulated investment gains of approximately $29 billion; Vision Fund II, which is primarily funded by SoftBank's own capital and holds a stake in OpenAI, recorded gains of $20.5 billion.

In recent years, Gulf nations have been allocating substantial wealth to the AI sector to reduce their economies' dependence on energy. Abu Dhabi in particular has become one of the world's largest funders in AI through platforms such as the AI-focused fund MGX and AI holding company G42. Neither company responded to requests for comment, and SoftBank also declined to comment.

AI Betting Continues to Escalate

This fundraising is a continuation of a series of aggressive AI bets by Son. Most notable among them is a $65 billion investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI. To support these investments, Son has combined financing and debt instruments, using SoftBank's stake in chip designer Arm and its own resources as partial collateral. Last month, SoftBank completed its largest-ever junk bond issuance, raising more than $11 billion from investors at yields of up to 9.75%.

SoftBank executives have stated that short-term valuation fluctuations of major portfolio companies such as OpenAI will not affect the company's investment plans. As of the end of June, SoftBank's net asset value stood at 72.3 trillion yen, with a loan-to-value ratio of 13%, well below the 25% ceiling target during normal operations.

Undercurrents of Risk

Despite the massive scale of the bets, external risks are accumulating. According to reports, OpenAI's annualized revenue is about $20 billion lower than previously signaled, and SoftBank's share price fell 5% in a single day following the news. So far this year, SoftBank's shares are still up about 25% cumulatively, but have fallen more than 30% from their peak when the company briefly became Japan's most valuable company in June.

Regarding OpenAI's postponed IPO, analysts believe this could constrain SoftBank's plans for new AI investments. One Asia-based analyst warned that "the chain effect... could deteriorate sharply in a short period of time" — because a large portion of SoftBank's investments are directly or indirectly tied to OpenAI and the AI sector, and if OpenAI's valuation suffers a significant decline, the spillover impact should not be underestimated.

Son himself has taken a tough stance toward skeptics, stating in July this year that "people who denounce AI are spitting at the sky." However, he has also recently acknowledged that if AI is used by "bad actors," it "could become extremely dangerous." From the WeWork bankruptcy to the spectacular returns from Alibaba, Son's investment style has always been controversial, and this time, the market is closely watching whether he can once again turn a bold bet into a strategic victory.