SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Says AI Is “Best Investment Opportunity” For This Reason

SoftBank surged past Toyota to become Japan's biggest company in market valuation on the back of the artificial intelligence boom. CEO Masayoshi Son believes that the AI revolution is much bigger than the dot-com boom of the 2000s.


Speaking to CNBC, Masayoshi Son said the AI boom was “like more than 10x, probably 50x bigger than dot-com”. He also gave his take on whether the AI revolution will see a downturn, just like the dot-com bubble did.


The SoftBank chief said the dot-com crash experienced a painful burst. However, it proved to be just a small obstacle in a much bigger long-term growth story.


“This is the biggest revolution of technology and realisation that mankind ever experienced, so this is just like the beginning of the internet,” Son explained.


Asked about his fears regarding a potential downturn, Son referenced the Wall Street crash of 1929 and stated, “there's always a correction.”


“Now, if you look at the history, electronics and motorization crashed in 1929, but went up for many, many years, for the next 100 years after that… so there may be some correction, but that will be the best investment opportunity to me.”



SoftBank Overtakes Toyota


On Monday, shares of the Masayoshi Son-led technology group soared 14% in trading, pushing its market capitalisation to above ¥48 trillion, far above Toyota's value of  ¥46 trillion.


This was the first time in over two decades that SoftBank surged past Toyota. The milestone was last achieved only briefly at the height of Japan's internet bubble in 2000, as per Bloomberg.


SoftBank's AI Push


The surge in SoftBank's share came a day after the firm announced that it would invest up to $87 billion to build AI infrastructure in France.


The company will partner with French engineering firm Schneider Electric to create a large-scale industrial production hub in Dunkirk as part of the project. The investment also includes the buildout of 3.1 GW of AI data centres by 2031 in the northern Hauts-de-France region.


SoftBank also announced a partnership with OpenAI on the Stargate project last year. The joint venture aims to build AI infrastructure in the US.

The AI startup makes a little of 20% of SoftBank's net asset value. Son told CNBC that OpenAI “will be very successful” amid talks of the ChatGPT maker planning its public issue soon.