Catenaa, Wednesday, November 12, 2025- SoftBank Group has sold its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia to fund an expanded $30 billion investment in OpenAI, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang cautioned that restrictive US chip export policies risk allowing China to catch up in artificial intelligence.
SoftBank disclosed the October sale of 32.1 million Nvidia shares during its quarterly earnings presentation Tuesday, using the proceeds to finance OpenAI commitments, including a $10 billion tranche already funded in April and another $22.5 billion expected by year-end.
CEO Masayoshi Son described the AI investment as a “once-in-a-century” opportunity, underscoring the company’s pivot toward AI infrastructure, automation, and robotics.
SoftBank’s net profit rose to 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion), its strongest performance in three years, while shares of Nvidia dipped 2% following the announcement.
Analysts warned that SoftBank’s leveraged strategy leaves little room for error amid volatile AI markets.
Meanwhile, Huang said China is “nanoseconds behind” the US in AI development but credited the country’s vast developer ecosystem for sustaining rapid progress despite limited access to Nvidia’s latest Blackwell chips.
He urged Washington to balance national security with engagement, warning that blocking access to Chinese developers could slow global AI adoption and weaken US influence.
Huang’s comments coincide with aggressive Chinese expansion in the semiconductor sector. Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp., the country’s largest NAND flash maker and a US.-blacklisted firm, is constructing its third facility, scheduled to open in 2027, to capture surging domestic AI-driven demand. Experts say the plant underscores China’s drive to overcome foreign restrictions and strengthen its position in global AI markets.
