|
SoftBank Group's CEO says $5 trillion a
year needed globally to meet AI demand
[July 15, 2026]
By MAYUKO ONO
TOKYO (AP)
— Worries about a bubble in artificial intelligence investments are
absurd, SoftBank Group’s CEO Masayoshi Son said Tuesday, deriding such
doubts as backward and akin to questioning the use of cars and planes.
“To ask whether AI is a bubble is a foolish question,” Son told
executives at an annual company event in Tokyo. “AI will transform our
lives completely, and do so in a way that generates profits.” |
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, speaks during a
business event in Tokyo, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Miyuki Saito/Kyodo
News via AP) |
|
“Those who refuse to evolve are closing down their world. Those
who condemn AI are themselves spitting upward,” Son added.
Financial markets have recently been swept by waves of concern
that the meteoric rise in share prices of companies like Nvidia,
and massive investments in data centers, might not yield returns
that match hopes for huge profits from AI.
Son founded SoftBank more than four decades ago and is a pioneer
in Japan’s technology investments. He was an early supporter of
AI and has invested tens of billions of dollars in related
companies.
Son said he estimates that almost $5 trillion in investments
will be needed annually and globally to expand data centers,
increase production of computer chips and provide energy systems
and other infrastructure for AI.
“In 2040, approximately 20% of the world’s GDP will be replaced
by AI-related industries, the world of superintelligence,” he
said.
SoftBank oversees a sprawling collection of businesses through
what it calls Vision Funds. Its other businesses include
telecommunications and energy.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. earlier reported its profits
for the fiscal year through March soared nearly five-fold to 5
trillion yen ($32 billion) from a year earlier as its AI
investments paid off.
The tech giant has invested $34.6 billion in OpenAI. It sold its
stake in computer chip maker Nvidia last year to free up funds
for more investments in AI and data centers.
SoftBank recently started a battery business in Japan to build
next-generation electric power infrastructure in anticipation of
growing electricity demand driven by AI use.
___
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok contributed.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
|
|
