By 2040, AI could account for around 20% of global GDP, and annual spending on the infrastructure needed to support it could reach $5 trillion, according to Masayoshi Son.
On that scale, he says, calling AI a bubble makes no sense.
✏️ Son has long been one of the tech industry's most outspoken AI optimists. SoftBank is investing heavily in OpenAI—its total investment in the company is expected to exceed $60 billion by the end of 2026. The Japanese giant is also helping finance the construction of new data centers.
💡 By Son's logic, some of the biggest names in tech "don't know what AI is about." That list would include Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and Alibaba cofounder Joe Tsai, all of whom have previously warned that the AI market could be in a bubble.
Late last year, for example, Bezos described the current boom as an "industrial bubble": the technology itself is real, but many questionable startups are still raising billions of dollars.
Is AI a bubble?
❤️ — No
🤔 — Yes, but the technology is real
🔥 — The whole thing is going to burst