Powered by Intel, SoftBank Plays the OpenAI Long Game

For years, investors judged SoftBank Group by the performance of its Vision Fund. Today, the company is reorganising itself around AI infrastructure, bringing Arm, Ampere, and Graphcore under a new ‘AI Computing’ segment, investing billions into OpenAI, financing robotics acquisitions, and expanding data centre capabilities. 

Q1 FY26 captures a transition at SoftBank, and yet, despite these massive AI investments, the earnings were driven largely by Intel. The story is not that AI is failing, but that SoftBank is still in the investment phase while older holdings are paying today’s bills.

SoftBank reported investment gains of ¥1.86 trillion ($12.7 billion) for this quarter, but the biggest contributor was not OpenAI, Arm, or any of its recent AI bets. Instead, gains from Intel shares accounted for the bulk of the quarter’s returns, highlighting a gap between the company’s current earnings and the AI empire it is building.

According to the company’s data sheet, gains of approximately ¥1.33 trillion ($8.42 billion) came from Intel shares, while the SoftBank Vision Funds generated ¥460.1 billion ($2.91 billion).

The Japanese investment giant has spent the past few months doubling down on AI. It completed its $34.6 billion investment in OpenAI last year, after which it has deployed $20 billion into OpenAI through a bridge facility. Part of that funding was secured by using $18.5 billion of Arm Holdings shares as collateral. It aims to inject $10 billion more into the Sam Altman-led company in October, taking its total investment to about $64.6 billion. 

Yet those investments have not translated into the same immediate gains that Intel delivered this quarter.

SoftBank’s legacy investments continue to generate sizeable returns, even as it channels unprecedented amounts of capital into building an AI ecosystem that may take years to mature.

Today’s Profits, Tomorrow’s Platform

The conglomerate’s Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto acknowledged that its focus remains firmly on building AI infrastructure rather than seeking near-term gains.

“We continue to make progress across the whole key pieces that are part of our strategy to build the leading platform for artificial super intelligence, AI models, AI chips, AI infrastructure, and physical AI,” Goto said during the earnings call.

He added that market volatility has not changed the company’s investment approach, stressing that every transformative technology in history has faced challenging periods and artificial super intelligence will be no exception. 

The company’s conviction is reflected in the scale of its investments.

Despite the additional investment in OpenAI, SoftBank kept the fair value of its OpenAI stake unchanged at $89.6 billion at the end of June, indicating the latest capital has yet to translate into a higher reported valuation.

Goto said that after completing its $10 billion commitment in October, SoftBank will bring its stake in OpenAI to around 13%. That valuation contrasts with Intel’s contribution to quarterly earnings, making the chipmaker the largest source of investment gains while OpenAI remains a long-term strategic bet.

Goto also dismissed concerns about near-term returns, saying, “We are not shaken by short-term market moves.”

Vision Fund is No Longer the Story

Just a few years ago, quarterly earnings were almost synonymous with Vision Fund performance. This quarter, it has contributed less than one-fourth of total investment gains, while the holding company investment business emerged as the largest contributor.

While SoftBank is restructuring itself around AI, it is also expanding beyond semiconductors and AI models.

Goto said SoftBank and OpenAI are making progress on data centre projects in both Europe and the United States.

“In June, Masa (SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son) joined President Macron (French President Emmanuel Macron) in Paris to announce our plan to build 5 gigawatts of data centre capacity in France,” he said, adding that access to AI infrastructure is becoming a key advantage.

The company’s spending reflects that strategy.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses rose sharply during the quarter, largely due to AI Computing and Energy Global, which is developing solar power assets and data centres in the US.

Betting Beyond Chatbots

SoftBank’s ambitions now stretch across almost every layer of the AI stack.

Alongside OpenAI, the group owns Arm, recently acquired Ampere and Graphcore, and is financing the acquisition of ABB Robotics. It has also committed capital towards DigitalBridge as it expands its data centre footprint.

Despite the aggressive spending, Goto maintained that financial discipline remains intact.

The group’s cash flows, however, show that expansion continues to rely heavily on financing. Operating cash flow remained negative at ¥439.9 billion ($2.79 billion), while investing cash flow stood at negative ¥2.54 trillion ($16.1 billion). Financing activities generated a positive cash flow of ¥1.52 trillion ($9.63 billion).

SoftBank also reported a record net asset value of ¥72.3 trillion ($458 billion) at the end of June, driven largely by gains in Arm and its broader investment portfolio.

For now, the company’s financial results tell two stories. While Intel is generating today’s profits, OpenAI, Arm, Ampere, and its AI infrastructure bets are expected to generate tomorrow’s. That is where SoftBank continues to deploy billions without expecting immediate returns.

Goto left little doubt about which story the company believes will matter more.

“We are moving forward towards our goal of becoming the number one ASI (artificial superintelligence) platform provider. We are investing with conviction, working with the world’s most ambitious companies, and building value across the AI supply chain.”