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For years, Japanese investment group SoftBank has been all-in on the AI gold rush.
In early 2025, mere weeks into his second term as president, Donald Trump announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure project, dubbed Stargate, as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son proudly watched on inside the Oval Office.
Over the proceeding year and a half, snowballing AI hype has sent valuations in the space soaring to spectacular new heights. At first, investors were throwing themselves at any opportunity to hop on the gravy train with the hope of cashing in big.
But major tech sell-offs have once again stoked fears of a looming AI bubble, which critics fear could send the entire economy into a tailspin if it were to collapse.
To a defiant Son, however, the party hasn’t even started. During his company’s annual general meeting this week, he had some memorable words for those who warn of impending doom.
“I think it’s blasphemy against AI if you say it’s a bubble,” he said, as quoted by Reuters. “It’s just the beginning. AI’s potential will be unlocked.”
When or if such an “industrial revolution” will occur remains a major point of contention. Proponents continue to argue that constructing enormous AI data center projects will be ultimately worth it. Critics, however, maintain that it’s a dead end and a colossal misallocation of resources that’s already resulting in water shortages, skyrocketing electricity prices, and lots and lots of pollution.
For his part, Son is firmly in the former camp. In a major vote of confidence, SoftBank has committed to invest over $64 billion in OpenAI, more than any other investor.
Earlier this month, the mercurial entrepreneur made headlines when he argued that the current AI revolution was “more than 10x, probably 50x bigger than dot-com,” referring to the stock market frenzy of the late 1990s — which infamously collapsed in on itself.
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