In the long arc of technological ambition, debt has always been the bridge between vision and reality — and SoftBank's $11 billion junk bond offering, priced at the highest yields the company has ever paid, is a measure of how wide that bridge must now stretch. Masayoshi Son is borrowing at rates approaching 9.75% to fund commitments nearing $65 billion to OpenAI, at a moment when U.S. Treasury rates sit at two-decade highs and global AI-related debt has already surpassed $575 billion in 2026. The market has not refused him, but it has named its price — and that price is a quiet verdict on whe