A $4 billion merger bringing DigitalBridge Group under SoftBank Group’s control is strengthening the Japanese conglomerate’s artificial intelligence infrastructure network, both companies confirmed. The deal represents billionaire Masayoshi Son’s vision of building an interconnected web of infrastructure assets supporting AI development.
The merger dramatically expands SoftBank’s involvement in digital infrastructure, which forms the essential foundation for AI technology deployment at scale. Son has been systematically focusing SoftBank’s capital on artificial intelligence, characterizing it as the defining technological shift of this era. The surging demand for computing capacity to support AI applications has created significant value in infrastructure sectors, which DigitalBridge’s specialized portfolio addresses.
DigitalBridge invests across critical digital infrastructure sectors including datacenters, cell towers, fiber networks, small-cell systems, and edge infrastructure. Portfolio companies include prominent entities such as Vantage Data Centers, Zayo, Switch, and AtlasEdge. Beginning as Colony Capital in 1991 as a real estate investment firm, the company transformed completely under CEO Marc Ganzi’s direction, divesting traditional property holdings and adopting the DigitalBridge name in 2021.
Following the merger, Ganzi will remain as CEO with DigitalBridge functioning as a separately managed platform within SoftBank’s organizational structure. The financial magnitude is noteworthy: DigitalBridge had approximately $108 billion in assets under management as of the end of September, establishing it as among the largest dedicated investors in digital infrastructure globally. This provides SoftBank with immediate scale and deep industry relationships.
SoftBank’s AI infrastructure investments extend well beyond this merger. The company is a core partner in the Stargate project, collaborating with OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, a technology investor headquartered in Abu Dhabi. This ambitious initiative involves billions of dollars in investments to construct large-scale computing infrastructure purpose-built for advanced AI development. The project roadmap includes five computing sites in Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio with approximately 7 gigawatts of combined power capacity.