Masayoshi Son says AI boom will dwarf the dot-com era by 50x

SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said the artificial-intelligence boom will eclipse the dot-com era by as much as 50-fold and signaled a major expansion in Europe with a €75 billion buildout of AI infrastructure in France. In an interview in Paris, Son said AI is the biggest technological shift in modern history and acknowledged that a market pullback could occur, likening it to the 1929 crash, but called any correction a buying opportunity. SoftBank plans to develop multi-gigawatt data centers in northern France and will lean on project financing and long-term customer commitments to fund the effort, alongside a partnership with Schneider Electric. Son said OpenAI accounts for just over 20% of SoftBank’s net asset value, with Arm comprising more than half, and predicted OpenAI will be “very successful” as IPO speculation builds. SoftBank shares rose sharply in Tokyo following the announcement.

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