SoftBank Group has scaled back its ambitious $10 billion margin loan backed by its stake in OpenAI after potential creditors expressed concerns over the difficulty of valuing the privately-held ChatGPT maker, Bloomberg News reported Friday.
Discussions now center on bringing that target down to as low as $6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
A margin loan allows an investor to borrow against securities they already own as collateral. In SoftBank’s case, the two-year loan would include an option to extend by an additional year.
SoftBank first invested in OpenAI in September 2024. In January 2025, the two companies partnered on Stargate, a major U.S. AI infrastructure project.
The Japanese conglomerate confirmed in March it secured a $40 billion bridge loan intended to fund its OpenAI investment and for general corporate purposes.
Neither SoftBank nor OpenAI responded to requests for comment.