SoftBank Group is achieving market dominance in artificial intelligence infrastructure through a $4 billion deal to acquire DigitalBridge Group, the companies jointly confirmed. The transaction reflects billionaire Masayoshi Son’s ambition to establish SoftBank as the undisputed leader in infrastructure supporting AI technologies globally.
The deal achieves SoftBank’s dominance goals through digital infrastructure providing essential computing, storage, and networking capabilities for AI applications at unprecedented scale. Son has been pursuing market dominance in artificial intelligence infrastructure, viewing leadership position as critical to long-term value creation. The explosive demand for computing resources to power AI systems rewards dominant players with pricing power and strategic influence, which DigitalBridge’s portfolio helps achieve.
DigitalBridge’s market-leading portfolio spans critical digital infrastructure including datacenters, telecommunications towers, fiber networks, small-cell systems, and edge computing facilities. The company’s holdings include dominant players such as Vantage Data Centers, Switch, Zayo, and AtlasEdge in their respective sectors. The firm’s path to market leadership from its 1991 founding as Colony Capital occurred under CEO Marc Ganzi, who built dominant positions through strategic transformation and the 2021 rebrand to DigitalBridge.
Following the dominance-achieving acquisition, Ganzi will continue leading DigitalBridge as CEO, with the platform operating independently. The market position is substantial: DigitalBridge managed approximately $108 billion in assets as of September 30, establishing it as one of the world’s largest dedicated investors in digital infrastructure. Combined with SoftBank’s other holdings, this moves toward market dominance in AI infrastructure.
SoftBank’s dominance strategy extends across multiple initiatives. The company is a principal partner in the Stargate project alongside leading players OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, a technology investor based in Abu Dhabi. This collaborative effort involves multi-billion-dollar investments in large-scale computing infrastructure designed to dominate advanced AI development. The roadmap includes five computing centers in Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio with a total power capacity of approximately 7 gigawatts.