OpenAI’s SB Energy warrants show how tightly AI models and infrastructure are becoming linked

OpenAI has been issued warrants in SB Energy that were valued at about $5.5 billion at the end of June, according to draft IPO documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and reported by Reuters. The figure is not a cash payment today: warrants are rights tied to future equity, and Reuters said it had not independently verified the draft documents.\n\nThe broader relationship is more important than the headline valuation. The Journal reports that OpenAI invested $500 million in SB Energy earlier in 2026 and is expected to hold a single-digit ownership stake after a potential IPO. SB Energy, meanwhile, has committed to buy at least $50 million of OpenAI software and services through 2028, including ChatGPT Enterprise. OpenAI and SoftBank are also planned tenants in SB Energy data centers.\n\nFor AI buyers, the story illustrates how model vendors, compute suppliers, power developers and investors are becoming financially interdependent. That matters when evaluating vendor concentration and infrastructure risk: access to enormous amounts of power and compute is increasingly being secured through arrangements that combine commercial contracts with equity incentives.\n\nThe numbers should still be treated as provisional. They come from draft IPO documents, the terms may change, and neither OpenAI nor SB Energy had confirmed the report to Reuters at publication time. AiToolMap therefore treats the $5.5 billion figure as a reported warrant valuation, not a finalized transaction value.