SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese ride sharing firm Didi Chuxing is considering a $6 billion investment backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, as it looks to take on global rivals such as Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], Bloomberg reported on Tuesday citing sources familiar with the matter.

Didi, backed by global tech giants Apple Inc and Tencent Holdings Ltd, is facing regulatory challenges at home over its drivers even as it looks to diversify from its core ride-hailing business to find new drivers for growth.

The ride-hailing platform bought out Uber's China unit last year following a bruising two-year battle in a deal that created a merged entity then worth around $35 billion and that gave Uber a one-fifth stake in the Chinese firm.

Didi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Softbank spokesman declined to comment.

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI and Shida Yoshiyasu in TOKYO; Editing by Randy Fabi)