SoftBank takes $3.7 billion hit after over-ordering turbines for AI data centers

SoftBank Group has booked a ¥597.2 billion ($3.7 billion) writedown after cancelling gas turbine orders it had placed to power AI data centers in the United States.

The charge helped drag the company to a net loss of ¥1.12 trillion ($7 billion) for its fiscal second quarter.

How a turbine shopping spree turned into a writedown

The loss traces back to Silver Bands 7 LLC, a SoftBank subsidiary. Its job was to lock in manufacturing capacity for gas turbines before competitors could.

SoftBank reserved more than 13 gigawatts of gas turbines between late 2025 and early 2026. That overshot what its 9.2-gigawatt Ohio facility needed.

The Ohio project is tied to the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus, which is leased by OpenAI. As specifications for the build shifted, SoftBank cancelled advance orders that were no longer needed.

By September 30, 2026, cumulative advance payments for US power generation equipment had reached $9.48 billion. Cancelling the surplus is what produced the $3.7 billion charge.

There is a partial cushion. SoftBank holds rights to conditional rebates of up to $2.1 billion on future turbine purchases.

Ahead of its earnings release, SoftBank denied claims that it had defaulted on the turbine contracts. The company frames the cancellations as a response to changing project needs, not a failure to pay.

The first loss in nearly two years

The ¥1.12 trillion net loss for the quarter, which ended September 30, 2026, marks SoftBank’s first net loss in nearly two years.

The turbine writedown was a major contributor, but not the only one. High financing costs in a volatile market also weighed heavily on the result.

None of this has slowed SoftBank’s appetite for AI. The company has made a $64.6 billion acquisition of a 13% stake in OpenAI.

It has also announced a $1.85 billion commitment to build AI infrastructure in Malaysia.

What this means for investors and the AI buildout

There are a few things to watch from here. First, whether SoftBank actually uses its up to $2.1 billion in conditional rebates, which would show how much future turbine buying it still plans.

Second, how the OpenAI-linked Ohio campus progresses now that the excess equipment orders are gone. Any further changes to project specs could reshape what SoftBank needs to buy.

Third, whether other large AI infrastructure buyers report similar cancellations or charges in coming quarters.