SoftBank Clears Thailand Hurdle While $64.6 Billion OpenAI Bet Fuels Rally

SoftBank resolves Thai regulatory hurdle for LINE MAN majority stake, while massive OpenAI investment and rival Anthropic's valuation spike drive stock volatility and 25% rally.

The Japanese technology conglomerate is drawing attention from two very different directions this week. In Bangkok, a regulatory logjam has quietly dissolved, unlocking a majority stake in a Thai food-delivery platform. In Silicon Valley, a valuation arms race between OpenAI and Anthropic is sending SoftBank’s own share price into overdrive.

SoftBank confirmed on May 27 that its LY Corporation subsidiary no longer needs separate Thai approvals to acquire additional shares in LINE MAN CORPORATION (LMWN). The decision clears the path for a final transaction pencilled in for August 2026. LY had already consolidated LMWN as a subsidiary in September 2025 after a multi-step purchase from investors including Apfarm and Commercial Alliance L.P. The new ruling means SoftBank can now move from regulatory review to closing the deal.

The practical impact on SoftBank’s near-term earnings is negligible — management itself described the financial effect as minimal. But the strategic significance is clear: an open regulatory question that once clouded a Southeast Asian platform asset is now resolved. After the additional acquisition, SoftBank will indirectly hold roughly 81 million LMWN shares, equivalent to 60.9% of voting rights based on figures from April 30, 2026.

LMWN’s financials portray a classic growth story. Revenue has climbed from ¥42.6 billion in fiscal 2022 to ¥54.5 billion in 2023 and ¥71.3 billion in 2024. Yet the operating loss has remained stubbornly high at ¥3.5 billion in 2024, after ¥3.0 billion the year before and ¥14.3 billion in 2022. The original deal terms saw LY acquire 9.8 million LMWN shares from Apfarm for $103 million, 3.7 million additional shares for $39 million, 4.8 million shares from Commercial Alliance for $50 million, and 12.4 million newly issued shares through a capital increase for $130 million.

Far more consequential for the stock, however, has been SoftBank’s deepening bet on artificial intelligence. The group invested roughly $32.4 billion in OpenAI during the fiscal year ended March 2026, with another $30 billion committed. That brings total exposure to about $64.6 billion for a stake of around 13%. The valuation tug-of-war with rival Anthropic — whose Series H round drove its valuation to $965 billion, leapfrogging OpenAI’s $852 billion — has acted as a direct catalyst. The higher the private market marks for these portfolio companies, the more SoftBank’s own net asset value rises.

The stock’s reaction has been dramatic. Over five trading days through late May 2026, SoftBank shares surged 25%. The daily swings tell a volatile story: a 10.91% jump on May 26 was followed by a 7.26% plunge on May 27, then a 2.02% decline on May 28 to close at ¥7,125. Markets remain jittery, but the overall trend is buoyed by expectations of an eventual OpenAI initial public offering. Even if OpenAI has missed certain revenue and user growth targets recently, infrastructure deals worth hundreds of billions with Oracle and Amazon help underpin the lofty valuation.

SoftBank is also building its own AI infrastructure. The company plans to launch a GPU-cloud data center in Japan in October 2026, running on its proprietary “Infrinia AI Cloud OS.” President Junichi Miyakawa described the platform as strategically essential for Japan’s digital competitiveness. Separately, SoftBank executive Dr. Alex Jinsung Choi leads the AI-RAN Alliance, which aims to embed AI technology into mobile networks.

Financially, the group remains stable. It reported a net profit of $31.4 billion for fiscal 2025, and its net asset value is estimated at around $300 billion. To fund further AI expansion, SoftBank is preparing to issue hybrid bonds with a 35-year maturity worth roughly $1.6 billion. At the same time, it is redeeming $669 million in senior notes maturing in July 2026. Another core holding, chip designer Arm, gained 16% over the same five-day window, amplifying the positive read-through to SoftBank’s balance sheet.

The Thailand clearance may not move the needle on its own, but it removes one less distraction from a management team laser-focused on AI dominance. With a strong buy rating from most analysts and a war chest still being deployed, SoftBank is juggling small-plate deals and multi-billion-dollar strategic bets — and so far, the market is rewarding the latter far more than the former.