SoftBank Group is committing $4 billion to acquire DigitalBridge Group in a major push to dominate artificial intelligence infrastructure investment, both companies confirmed. The transaction represents founder Masayoshi Son’s determination to establish SoftBank as the leading player in infrastructure supporting AI technologies.
The deal provides SoftBank with dramatically expanded exposure to digital infrastructure assets, which provide the foundational capabilities necessary for AI applications to operate at scale. Son has been explicitly directing SoftBank’s investments toward artificial intelligence, characterizing it as the most significant technological transformation in a generation. The unprecedented demand for computing power to train and run AI systems has created substantial opportunities in infrastructure, which DigitalBridge’s specialized portfolio captures.
DigitalBridge’s investment activities span essential digital infrastructure sectors including datacenter facilities, telecommunications tower networks, fiber optic systems, small-cell infrastructure, and edge computing platforms. The portfolio includes industry-recognized companies such as Vantage Data Centers, Zayo, Switch, and AtlasEdge. The firm’s transformation from its 1991 origins as Colony Capital, a real estate investment company, to its current form occurred under CEO Marc Ganzi, who led the strategic pivot away from traditional property holdings and the 2021 rebrand.
Following the acquisition, Ganzi will remain at the helm as CEO, with DigitalBridge functioning as a separately managed platform within SoftBank’s structure. The magnitude of the commitment is impressive: DigitalBridge had approximately $108 billion in assets under management as of the end of September, establishing it as one of the world’s largest dedicated investors in digital infrastructure. This gives SoftBank immediate scale and specialized knowledge in a critical sector.
SoftBank’s involvement in AI infrastructure includes multiple major projects. The company is a key participant in the Stargate project, collaborating with OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, a technology investor based in Abu Dhabi. This ambitious effort involves billions of dollars in investments to build large-scale computing infrastructure purpose-built for advanced AI development. The project includes plans for five computing facilities in Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio with a total power capacity of approximately 7 gigawatts.