SoftBank lost $7 billion between July and September, its first quarterly loss in two years of business, according to the Financial Times. The Japanese investment giant also bankrolled WeWork before its spectacular collapse.
SoftBank backed OpenAI, the lab behind ChatGPT, with more than $60 billion in risky debt financing. The Financial Times reports that the move dragged the firm into that quarterly loss.
According to the Financial Times, at least $3.7 billion of the loss is likely attributable to a massive OpenAI data center development in Ohio. SoftBank initially blamed that portion on financing for “existing and planned” data center projects there. It later walked back that explanation, saying the losses were “completely unrelated” to any dealings in Ohio.
The $7 billion loss compares with a $2.17 billion profit in the previous quarter and a $15.64 billion profit in the third quarter of 2025. Futurism argues the swing shows SoftBank is hemorrhaging money to keep its AI ambitions alive.
SoftBank shares have also fallen nearly 50 percent since June, the Financial Times reports, as ratings downgrades and growing skepticism about the AI industry’s viability have pushed investors toward safer parts of the market.
To keep funding AI labs such as OpenAI, SoftBank has turned to junk bonds, a form of high-risk debt. In September, it raised more than $11 billion through non-investment-grade bonds. Futurism says the Japanese firm now holds the world record for the largest corporate junk bond offering ever made.
Futurism says SoftBank may have one of the highest exposures to the AI bubble anywhere, and that mounting losses and high-risk debt leave it on shaky ground. SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, meanwhile, calls the AI bubble a myth. The outlet argues that his firm faces serious trouble if that bubble does exist.
