SB Energy Stock: Company Gets $1 Billion from OpenAI and SoftBank for AI Data Centers

TLDR

• SB Energy receives $1 billion investment split equally between OpenAI and SoftBank at $500 million each
• The funding supports construction of OpenAI’s 1.2-gigawatt data center in Milam County, Texas
• Investment is part of the $500 billion Stargate initiative backed by President Trump in January 2025
• SB Energy and OpenAI form preferred partnership to develop new data center construction model
• First facilities expected to begin operations in 2026 with SB Energy using OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology

OpenAI and SoftBank Group announced a $1 billion investment in SB Energy on Friday. Each company is contributing $500 million to the deal.

The investment will fund data center and power infrastructure expansion for AI operations. SB Energy is owned by SoftBank and backed by Ares Management.

The funding is part of Stargate, a $500 billion multi-year project to build AI data centers. President Donald Trump endorsed the initiative when it launched in January 2025, with Oracle also participating as a backer.

SB Energy will build and operate OpenAI’s 1.2-gigawatt data center in Milam County, Texas. OpenAI announced this facility in September 2025.

Partnership Creates New Data Center Development Model

The companies formed a non-exclusive preferred partnership to develop data center infrastructure. This model combines OpenAI’s data center design with SB Energy’s expertise in construction speed, cost management, and energy delivery.

SB Energy operates energy projects across the United States. The company has offices in Redwood City, San Diego, and Denver.

SB Energy has several multi-gigawatt data center campuses under development. Initial facilities are under construction and expected to start service in 2026.

SB Energy co-CEO Rich Hossfeld said the partnership accelerates delivery of AI data center campuses and energy infrastructure. He stated this scale is required to advance Stargate.

SB Energy will become an OpenAI customer under the agreement. The company will use OpenAI’s APIs and deploy ChatGPT for employees.

OpenAI president Greg Brockman said the partnership brings together infrastructure and energy development strength with data center engineering expertise. He described it as a fast way to scale computing through optimized AI data centers.

Energy Access Drives Tech Company Investments

Tech companies are investing directly in power infrastructure as energy access limits AI expansion. Demand for larger and more data centers is pushing electricity requirements higher.

The data center construction boom has prompted major tech firms to allocate large budgets to infrastructure. These projects require investments in chips, power systems, cooling, and servers.

SoftBank and OpenAI have deepened their relationship over the past year. OpenAI closed a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank two months after announcing Stargate.

That round was the largest private tech funding on record. Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive participated.

SoftBank sold its entire Nvidia stake for $5.83 billion in November 2025. The company said it was focusing on its OpenAI investment.

OpenAI has signed over $1.4 trillion in infrastructure deals recently to build data centers. CEO Sam Altman said in November the company was on track for over $20 billion in annualized revenue in 2025.

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