By Anton Bridge

TOKYO (Reuters) -SoftBank’s shares slid as much as 10% on Wednesday after the $5.8 billion sale of its stake in Nvidia highlighted the growing funding demands it faces to bankroll its “all-in” bet on ChatGPT creator OpenAI and other investments.

The conglomerate needs to fund a $22.5 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, is acquiring chipmaker Ampere in a $6.5 billion deal and has agreed to buy the robotics business of Swiss group ABB for $5.4 billion.

Analyst Mary Pollock at CreditSights estimates SoftBank has committed to at least $41 billion in recent spending on investments and purchases. Its cash position totalled 4.2 trillion yen ($27.86 billion) at the end of September.

SoftBank’s cash needs in the current quarter are “substantial”, Pollock wrote in a note.

“T

See Full Page