SoftBank has taken more than $3 billion in losses related to power-generation equipment after reserving far more natural-gas turbine capacity than its AI data-center plans required. The company reportedly placed deposits on over 13 gigawatts, nearly 50% above its expected need.

Long grid-connection waits and turbine order queues extending into the early 2030s had encouraged developers to secure equipment early. SoftBank’s SB Energy also announced a $33 billion, 9.2-gigawatt gas project in February. Over-ordering could guarantee near-term delivery and leave surplus equipment to sell into a constrained market.

That trade did not hold. SoftBank reported a $7.1 billion quarterly loss, with more than half connected to power equipment, and concluded that many nonrefundable turbine deposits had little value. Energy analysts described the charge as costly price discovery after the company paid to reserve both speed and excess capacity.

The write-down does not mean gas-powered data centers are disappearing; projected AI electricity demand remains large and grid access is slow. It does show that scarcity assumptions can reverse before equipment arrives. Smaller grid connections paired with batteries may cover peaks more economically for some facilities, while gas also carries fuel-price, winter-curtailment and emissions risks that a reservation deposit does not solve.