The DigitalBridge Group transaction valued at $4 billion is enhancing SoftBank Group’s artificial intelligence capabilities significantly, both companies announced. The deal reflects founder Masayoshi Son’s focus on acquiring assets that directly improve SoftBank’s ability to participate in and profit from AI technology development.
The transaction enhances SoftBank’s capabilities through digital infrastructure that provides computing, storage, and networking functions essential for AI applications. Son has been systematically enhancing SoftBank’s AI capabilities through strategic acquisitions, recognizing that infrastructure ownership directly translates to technological capability. The unprecedented demand for computing resources to support AI systems makes infrastructure capability-building critical, which DigitalBridge’s portfolio directly enables.
DigitalBridge’s capability-enhancing portfolio spans critical digital infrastructure including datacenter facilities, telecommunications tower networks, fiber optic systems, small-cell infrastructure, and edge computing platforms. The company’s holdings include major capability providers such as Vantage Data Centers, Zayo, Switch, and AtlasEdge. The firm’s capability development from its 1991 founding as Colony Capital, a traditional real estate investor, occurred under CEO Marc Ganzi, who led the transformation to digital infrastructure and the 2021 rebrand.
Following the capability enhancement, Ganzi will continue leading DigitalBridge as CEO, with the platform operating independently within SoftBank. The capability addition is substantial: DigitalBridge managed around $108 billion in assets as of September 30, establishing it as one of the premier dedicated investors in digital infrastructure. This significantly enhances SoftBank’s capabilities in the AI infrastructure sector.
SoftBank’s capability enhancement strategy extends to other major initiatives. The company is a founding partner in the Stargate project, collaborating with capability leaders OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, an investment firm headquartered in Abu Dhabi. This ambitious venture involves multi-billion-dollar investments in large-scale computing infrastructure purpose-built for advanced AI development. Current plans include five new computing facilities in Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio designed for approximately 7 gigawatts of combined power capacity.