SoftBank’s SB Energy is preparing to ask public investors to back an enormous AI infrastructure buildout just as one of its biggest partners has stepped away from the 2026 IPO calendar.
The company filed for a proposed initial public offering on Nasdaq under the ticker SBE. The share count and price range have not been set, and the offering remains subject to market conditions. Reuters reported that SoftBank may seek a valuation of about $50 billion. That figure is a possible valuation, not the amount SB Energy plans to raise.
The timing puts the deal under an unusually bright spotlight. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company would not go public in 2026, citing the safety and alignment work still ahead. The Financial Times framed SB Energy’s offering as a test of investor appetite for Masayoshi Son’s broader AI strategy.
A vast pipeline with little data-center revenue
SB Energy’s amended prospectus describes a company transforming from a power developer into an owner and operator of gigawatt-scale data centers. It reports approximately 8.8 gigawatts of signed data-center lease capacity, all tied to two anchor tenants: SoftBank and OpenAI.
Only about 0.8 gigawatts of that capacity is under construction. The remaining 8 gigawatts is contracted for the PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio but is not yet under construction. SB Energy says its data-center segment is still pre-revenue, with initial revenue expected in late 2026.
Those disclosures give investors two very different numbers to weigh: a huge contracted pipeline and almost no operating history for the business meant to deliver it. Projects of this scale also depend on power generation, grid connections, financing and regulatory approvals arriving on schedule.
SoftBank, OpenAI and Nvidia are woven into the deal
The offering is not a clean separation from SB Energy’s biggest backers and customers. SoftBank is expected to remain the controlling shareholder. OpenAI is both an investor and an anchor tenant under long-term leases, while Nvidia has committed to a $1.5 billion private placement at the IPO price, according to Reuters. OpenAI also holds warrants that Reuters valued at roughly $5.5 billion.
That web of relationships is the attraction and the risk. It gives SB Energy access to customers and capital at the center of the AI spending boom, but it also concentrates the company’s prospects around a small group of interdependent partners. With OpenAI no longer offering public investors a direct listing this year, SB Energy’s reception may become the clearest near-term signal of how much risk they are willing to take on the infrastructure behind the AI buildout.
