SoftBank eyes $40 billion OpenAI investment as US-China AI race heats up: Report

Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group is in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in ChatGPT maker OpenAI at a valuation of $300 billion, according to a Reuters report. News of the funding comes as a new Chinese AI startup, DeepSeek, has overtaken ChatGPT as the top free app on US app stores, shattering notions of American supremacy in the global AI race.

Despite DeepSeek’s low-cost AI models hogging the limelight, SoftBank has valued OpenAI at $260 billion going into the funding round, up from its $150 billion valuation just a few months ago.