SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son mocks AI critics and predicts big economic impact

In short: SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son criticized people who oppose AI and laid out bold predictions about how much it could affect the global economy.

What happened

Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder of SoftBank, used his annual SoftBank World event to mock critics of artificial intelligence, or AI (computer systems that can do tasks that usually need human judgment). He said criticizing AI was like rejecting cars and airplanes when they first appeared. He also said opponents were “spitting upwards,” meaning their criticism would backfire on them.

Son told executives that leaders who are not ready to embrace AI should step aside. He singled out hesitant Japanese business leaders and said that company presidents should focus on AI if they want to be number one in their industry within 15 years.

He also made big forecasts. Son said AI could account for 20 percent of global output by 2040, and he estimated it could represent about $46 trillion of global economic activity within 15 years. He argued that powering this growth would require a huge buildout of data centers (large buildings filled with computers, like giant warehouses for processing and storing digital work), adding up to 3 terawatts of capacity by 2040.

SoftBank has been investing heavily in AI-related companies, including Arm and OpenAI, according to the report. At the same time, some investors are worried about SoftBank’s growing debt and possible delays to OpenAI’s planned stock market listing.

Why it matters

Son’s comments reflect a wider push by major investors and companies to spend heavily on AI, plus the physical infrastructure behind it, like chips, robots, and power-hungry data centers. For everyday people, that can mean faster changes at work, and more pressure on companies and governments to answer basic questions about jobs, energy use, and who benefits from AI.

Source: Financial Times