The European Commission on Tuesday cleared the creation of a joint venture between OpenAI and SoftBank Group under the EU Merger Regulation, removing a key regulatory hurdle for the two companies’ deepening partnership in artificial intelligence.
The Approval
The Commission approved the formation of a “full-function joint venture” by OpenAI OpCo, LLC and SoftBank Group, according to the regulator’s daily news release on May 5. The decision was made under simplified merger review procedures, indicating that EU antitrust authorities did not identify competition concerns that would warrant a more extensive investigation. Microsoft-backed OpenAI and the Japanese conglomerate had notified the Commission of their plans as required under EU rules governing large cross-border business combinations.
SoftBank’s AI Ambitions
The approval comes as SoftBank continues to deepen its financial ties to OpenAI at a pace that has drawn scrutiny from credit agencies. SoftBank announced in February 2026 a $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, spread across three tranches of $10 billion each. The first tranche was executed on April 1, 2026, bringing SoftBank’s total OpenAI exposure to approximately $64.6 billion and a roughly 13 percent ownership stake.
The investment is part of a broader $110 billion funding round for OpenAI that also includes participation from Nvidia and Amazon. S&P Global lowered SoftBank’s credit outlook from stable to negative in response to the concentration risk, noting that OpenAI is among SoftBank’s investments with the “weakest” credit quality.
Existing Partnership in Japan
The two companies already operate a joint venture in Japan. SB OAI Japan, a 50-50 venture launched in late 2025, delivers an enterprise AI solution called “Crystal intelligence” to Japanese corporations. That venture is leveraging OpenAI’s enterprise platform “Frontier” to accelerate its rollout to businesses across Japan in 2026.
The EU-approved joint venture adds a European dimension to a relationship that has rapidly become one of the most consequential partnerships in artificial intelligence.
