SoftBank Group Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son has projected that the development of artificial intelligence will require annual global investments of approximately $5 trillion by 2040, dismissing concerns that the industry’s rapid growth represents an investment bubble.
Speaking at SoftBank’s annual corporate conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, Son said the scale of investment needed to build AI infrastructure would be justified by the technology’s long-term economic impact.
According to him, AI could account for about 20% of global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2040, making annual spending of roughly 800 trillion yen, or $5 trillion, economically viable.
“Every year $5 trillion, or 800 trillion yen, you might think that’s a lie, but I am confident that’s what it will cost,” Son said.
He argued that concerns about an AI investment bubble misunderstand the technology’s transformative potential.
“Asking if AI is a bubble is absurd. I don’t think people who ask that question know what AI is about,” he said.
SoftBank has emerged as one of the world’s biggest investors in AI, committing tens of billions of dollars to OpenAI while financing data centres and investing in robotics and AI infrastructure.
Son said the company’s cumulative investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI is expected to exceed $60 billion before the end of 2026.
He also predicted that AI data centres would require around three terawatts of electricity generation by 2040—equivalent to about 1.8 times current global power consumption.
According to Son, natural gas will initially power much of that demand before nuclear fusion becomes the dominant energy source.
Looking ahead, he envisioned a future in which AI agents perform autonomous tasks and interact with one another without human intervention.
“We will go from a human-centric world to an agent-centric world. The age when humans are the highest life form on earth will end. For better or for worse, it will happen and it can’t be stopped,” Son said.
