Softbank's SB Energy has filed for an initial public offering while disclosing that its revenue stream remains substantially dependent on power agreements tied to OpenAI.
SB Energy, the artificial intelligence power infrastructure company backed by Softbank, OpenAI, and Nvidia, has filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Among the risk factors outlined in Tuesday’s filing, SB Energy disclosed that it is “substantially dependent” on OpenAI’s performance as both a tenant and equity investor. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also served as an early personal investor in the company. The filing notes, “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.”
According to the SEC filing, SB Energy relies heavily on external partner financing to fund its data center campuses and has not yet generated any revenue from that segment. None of the company’s data centers are currently operational. For the first half of 2026, SB Energy reported net losses of approximately $3.2 billion, attributing the shortfall to “substantial investments” in its data center strategy. During the same period, the company generated roughly $139 million in revenue, primarily derived from its legacy energy operations.
In August, Nvidia announced it would provide $105 billion in financing for an OpenAI data center in Ohio, which SB Energy will construct. Following the financing announcement, SB Energy CEO Rich Hossfeld told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “The reason Nvidia is on our part of the equation here is that, you know, helps us to unlock things like investment-grade financing. It helps to ensure the project is a success.”
Shares of SB Energy will trade on the Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the ticker symbol SBE, with Softbank serving as the controlling shareholder. While the company has not yet announced pricing or a specific launch timeline, The Wall Street Journal reported that trading could begin as early as this month. According to the Journal, SB Energy aims to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion through the offering.
The IPO prospectus also highlighted growing public pushback against data centers as a material risk. “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,” the filing stated. Additional risks detailed in the S-1 include technological advancements that “could render our facilities obsolete or unmarketable,” slower-than-expected enterprise adoption of AI, evolving regulatory landscapes, and decelerating capital expenditure from hyperscalers.
Throughout the S-1 filing, references to OpenAI appear nearly as frequently as those to Softbank, with OpenAI mentioned 306 times compared to Softbank’s 325. Nvidia is referenced 135 times.