SoftBank launches SB Neo, a new US-focused neocloud GPU cloud provider entering the competitive AI compute market.
SoftBank Corp. and SoftBank Group Corp. announced on July 2 that they will establish SB Neo, Inc., a jointly owned US subsidiary to operate a neocloud GPU rental business targeting American enterprises and hyperscalers. The Delaware-incorporated entity allocates a 51% stake to SoftBank Corp. and 49% to SoftBank Group, making SB Neo a consolidated subsidiary of the telecom operator.
SB Neo will offer computing resources for large-scale AI model training and inference, built on SoftBank's proprietary Infrinia AI Cloud OS software stack. The platform includes Kubernetes-as-a-Service and Inference-as-a-Service capabilities and has been in beta testing in Japan since May 2026. Commercial services are expected to begin in fiscal year 2027, ending March 31, 2028.
The new entity marks SoftBank's formal entry into the US neocloud market, placing it in direct competition with CoreWeave, which went public earlier this year, as well as the GPU cloud offerings of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. On the announcement date, SoftBank Group ADRs (SFTBY) traded at $18.45, up 4.2%, valuing the conglomerate at approximately $210 billion.
The joint venture structure reflects complementary assets: SoftBank Corp. brings Infrinia and operational experience running GPU cloud services in Japan, while SoftBank Group contributes US energy and data center infrastructure. Infrinia was developed by SoftBank Corp.'s in-house team and supports multitenant GPU environments via Kubernetes-as-a-Service and large language model API access through Inference-as-a-Service.
SB Neo's capacity roadmap ties to SoftBank Group's broader US infrastructure buildout, which targets approximately 10GW of AI data center capacity by roughly 2030. An initial 800MW facility is planned for Pike County, Ohio, with services launching in 2028. Separately, SoftBank Group is constructing a 1.2GW data center in Milam County, Texas, as part of the Stargate joint venture with OpenAI. The group also announced in early 2026 that it would acquire DigitalBridge for approximately $3 billion, adding data center management expertise.
To fund the infrastructure push, SoftBank is reportedly securing a $10 billion loan backed by its stake in OpenAI. SoftBank Corp. CEO Junichi Miyakawa highlighted the company's competitive advantage through its "ability to secure source of energy from gas-fired plants."
The neocloud sector is competitive and growing. CoreWeave (CRWV), the sector's highest-profile pure-play, trades at roughly $44.6 billion market capitalization following its 2025 IPO, though shares have retreated from a 52-week high of $163.66 to $81.75. Other competitors include Lambda, Crusoe Energy, and GPU cloud offerings from the three major hyperscalers. The sector generated over $25 billion in revenue in 2025, with revenues growing more than 200% year-over-year in late 2025.
However, McKinsey has warned that the neocloud business model is "fragile" due to commoditization and limited hardware differentiation, raising questions about long-term margins as GPU supply loosens. SoftBank's differentiation strategy centers on vertical integration—owning energy assets, data center infrastructure, and the software stack—rather than competing purely on GPU availability.
SB Neo's immediate priority is standing up operations in Delaware and hiring a US-based team. Commercial services are not expected until FY2027, providing roughly 18 months to build initial capacity and onboard enterprise customers. The timeline aligns with SoftBank Group's broader infrastructure schedule: both the 800MW Ohio facility and 1.2GW Texas Stargate site target 2028 operational dates, which would provide the physical capacity for SB Neo's US cloud services. CEO Miyakawa has indicated that a successful US launch would be followed by gigawatt-scale AI data center construction in Japan, contingent on securing adequate power resources.