SoftBank Group has raised roughly $11 billion in debt, spread across dollars and euros, making the Japanese conglomerate the biggest corporate junk-bond borrower in the world. Billionaire Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group has pushed through one of the largest junk-bond offerings on record, dangling yields above anything it's paid before in an effort to fund its massive artificial intelligence ambitions. The company raised roughly $11 billion in debt, spread across dollars and euros, making the Japanese conglomerate the biggest corporate junk-bond borrower in the world, data shows. While it drew enough demand to lower pricing, borrowing costs were still largely higher than it has had to pay before, according to the data. The firm sold $1 billion of 3.5-year bonds at a yield of 8.625% and $4.5 billion of 5.5-year securities at a yield of 9.25%, according to a person familiar with the matter. The longer-dated $4.5 billion 7.5-year tranche priced to yield 9.75%, the person added, asking not to be identified because they're not allowed to speak publicly.

SoftBank Group, led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, has committed close to $65 billion to ChatGPT creator OpenAI, making it one of the world's biggest investors in artificial intelligence along with its other investments in the sector. SoftBank Group has drawn more than $20 billion of preliminary demand for what's shaping up to be one of the biggest junk bond deals ever, people familiar with the matter said, as investors rush to capture record yields likely to be offered to help fund the firm's investments in OpenAI. The potential interest reflects early, nonbinding indications from investors and serves as an initial gauge ahead of pricing, which is still expected Thursday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. SoftBank was seeking to raise the equivalent of more than $11 billion in the deal including a $10 billion dollar part and a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) euro portion, other people said Monday. There's no cap for the size, and no final decisions have been made, they added.

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Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks at the SoftBank World forum in Tokyo in July. SoftBank Group is seeking the equivalent of more than $11 billion in what would be one of the biggest junk bond deals ever, people familiar with the matter said Monday, as billionaire Masayoshi Son's conglomerate ramps up its investments in ChatGPT creator OpenAI. The company is looking to issue $10 billion of dollar securities across three tenors, and €1 billion ($1.1 billion) of euro notes across two maturities, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. The money will be used in part to fund a follow-on investment in OpenAI expected to close next month, the people said. The deal may price on Thursday, they added.

Businesses finally seeing AI ROI, but 62% can't handle the storage demands A Seagate study finds that 99% of IT leaders expect AI to drive increased data storage needs, but only 38% are prepared to meet them, revealing a significant readiness gap. Kayla Solino is a ZDNET Editor based in New York City and New Jersey. A new study finds 62% of organizations are ill-prepared to tackle surging storage needs. Organizations must lean in to AI's growing data demands and infrastructure readiness. "Sustainable scaling" may be the key to optimizing AI growth, according to Seagate's study.

Who gets to decide how quickly AI moves? Share Who gets to decide how quickly AI moves? on social media Artificial intelligence (AI) has stirred up more controversy than most things in the past five years. Ever since the introduction of accessible generative AI in 2022, institutions, universities, students, scholars, activists, cognitive specialists, public policymakers and members of the public have all been divided over the ethics of its use. As of the beginning of this month, even the founders of AI companies have taken the same stance. Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, released an essay calling on AI companies to slow the development of their most advanced models, as the safeguards currently in place are unable to keep up.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (left) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend an event in Tokyo in February 2025. Apollo Global Management is in talks with SoftBank Group about boosting the size of a loan to $9 billion from $5.4 billion to help the Japanese firm finance its investment in AI giant OpenAI. The size of the financing, which is backed by assets in SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, hasn't been finalized, the people said, requesting not to be identified because the discussions are private. Representatives for Apollo and SoftBank declined to comment. Apollo made the so-called net-asset-value (NAV) loan to SoftBank's venture capital fund in 2021 and boosted it by $900 million last year to $5.4 billion.

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When Jessica Wachter, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, wanted to assess AI's impact on the economy over the next few years, she faced a long list of business and technical uncertainties. So she started with what she calls a "remarkable fact" that is not in question: A handful of so-called hyperscalers are investing huge amounts of money to build AI data centers. Instead of trying to predict how useful and widely deployed AI models will be, she simply asked how fast the hyperscalers' earnings will need to grow to justify their spending through 2027, when--she and her collaborator estimate--expenditures will reach nearly $1.1 trillion.

Kioxia said to consider raising $10 billion in U.S. listing Kioxia is seeking to gain more liquidity in the U.S. by listing American depositary receipts. Kioxia is considering raising at least $10 billion by listing American depositary receipts, people familiar with the matter said, potentially joining other artificial intelligence-related companies seeking to tap strong investor demand. Kioxia has been speaking with lenders including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase on an offering that may take place next year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The Tokyo-based memory-storage maker is seeking to gain more liquidity in the U.S. with the listing after it repurchased billions of dollars' worth of shares in Japan, the people said. Selling ADRs may also allow Kioxia to join a semiconductor-focused stock index, they said. Considerations are preliminary, and details such as the size of the share sale and the bank lineup may change, the people said.