SoftBank’s SB Energy Files for IPO, But OpenAI Dependence Emerges as Major Risk

SB Energy, the artificial intelligence infrastructure company backed by SoftBank, OpenAI and Nvidia, is preparing to go public even if it's warning prospective investors that much of its ambitious data center strategy depends on OpenAI.

In an S-1 registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SB Energy said it is "substantially dependent" on OpenAI, which serves as both a major tenant and an equity investor in the company. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also an early personal investor.

"This concentration means that our near-term revenues, project-level financing arrangements, and development plans are significantly linked to OpenAI's continued performance under our lease and related agreements," SB Energy said in the filing.

SoftBank is SB Energy's controlling shareholder, while Nvidia is helping finance infrastructure designed to provide the enormous computing capacity required by OpenAI. The dependence is particularly significant because SB Energy's data center business has not yet generated revenue.

None of the company's data centers are currently operational, according to its prospectus, leaving the company reliant on outside financing as it builds campuses requiring billions of dollars in capital.

SB Energy reported a net loss of approximately $3.2 billion during the first six months of 2026, which it attributed partly to "substantial investments" in its data center strategy. Revenue totaled about $139 million during the period, largely from its legacy energy operations.

The scale of SB Energy's AI ambitions became clearer in August, when Nvidia announced it would provide $105 billion in financing for an OpenAI data center in Ohio being developed by SB Energy.

Nvidia's involvement could help SB Energy obtain additional financing on more favorable terms. CEO Rich Hossfeld told CNBC following the announcement that Nvidia's participation "helps us to unlock things like investment-grade financing" and helps ensure the project's success.

The company plans to list on the Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the ticker "SBE." It has not disclosed an IPO price or an official trading date. The Wall Street Journal reported that SB Energy could begin trading as soon as September and is seeking to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion, potentially making the offering one of the most closely watched IPOs tied to the AI infrastructure boom.

OpenAI's importance to the company's future is difficult to miss in the prospectus. The AI company appears 306 times in SB Energy's S-1, compared with 325 mentions of SoftBank. Nvidia appears 135 times.

But OpenAI is hardly the only risk identified by SB Energy. The company warned that the growing political and community backlash against data centers could interfere with its expansion plans as residents across the U.S. raise concerns about electricity consumption, water use, utility bills and the environmental footprint of massive AI facilities.

"We may face community opposition, local moratoria and hyper-local dissent, including growing public resistance to AI and AI-related infrastructure, that may adversely affect our data center and power generation businesses and operations," SB Energy said.