SoftBank CEO Dismisses AI Bubble Fears, Predicts $5T Annual Investment

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Artificial intelligence will require annual global investment of $5 trillion by 2040, according to SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, who argued that concerns over an AI investment bubble fundamentally misunderstand the scale of the technological transition underway.

Speaking at SoftBank’s annual corporate conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, Son outlined an expansive vision of an AI-driven economy in which spending on infrastructure, compute, and energy becomes proportionate to AI’s contribution to global economic output rather than today’s technology budgets.

“If AI revenue makes up 20% of global GDP by 2040, spending $5 trillion a year is a rounding error,” Son said. While he did not explain the assumptions behind either projection, the remarks show how some of the industry’s largest investors are framing AI not as another technology cycle but as foundational economic infrastructure.

The comments come as questions intensify over whether the billions flowing into AI models, data centers, chips, and cloud infrastructure will ultimately generate sufficient returns. Capital expenditure across the AI ecosystem has accelerated sharply over the past two years, prompting comparisons with previous technology booms.

Son rejected those comparisons outright.

“Asking if AI is a bubble is absurd,” he said. “I don’t think people who ask that question know what AI is about.”

SoftBank has emerged as one of the industry’s most aggressive AI investors. The Japanese technology group has committed tens of billions of dollars toward building AI infrastructure, financing data centers, investing in robotics companies, and backing OpenAI. Son said SoftBank’s cumulative investment in the ChatGPT developer is expected to exceed $60 billion before the end of 2026, making it one of the company’s largest strategic bets.

Beyond capital, Son argued that AI’s expansion will fundamentally reshape global energy demand. He estimated AI data centers will require 3 terawatts of generating capacity by 2040—roughly 1.8 times today’s total global electricity consumption. While natural gas is likely to power the near-term expansion, he predicted nuclear fusion would ultimately become AI’s primary energy source, describing it as a cleaner and more economical long-term solution than space-based solar power.

Son also reiterated his long-term vision of an “agent-centric” economy, where autonomous AI systems increasingly make decisions, execute tasks, and coordinate with one another with minimal human intervention. He projected a future containing 100 trillion AI agents, arguing that enterprises and societies will gradually shift from human-directed workflows to autonomous digital systems.

His remarks reflect a growing divide in the AI industry. While investors continue to question whether current infrastructure spending can be justified on commercial grounds, AI’s most bullish proponents argue that today’s investment cycle is building the foundational infrastructure for the economy.