'AI bubble' theory dismissed by Masayoshi Son... "Asking if it's an AI bubble is foolish"

Masayoshi Son, chairman of Japan's SoftBank Group

"Asking if it's an AI bubble is foolish"

Sold NVIDIA to invest in OpenAI

Additional investment of $22.5 billion this month

"Japan is too slow, wake up"

Masayoshi Son, chairman of Japan's SoftBank Group, dismissed the 'AI bubble' theory.

According to the Nikkei on the 2nd, Son said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII), an international finance conference held in Tokyo the previous day, that people who ask whether AI is a bubble are "foolish."

He explained that with AI and 'physical AI' that autonomously controls machines, in 10 years it will create 10% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), amounting to $20 trillion annually. He added, "If $10 trillion is invested over 10 years, it can be recouped in just half a year."

In October, SoftBank sold all of its U.S. NVIDIA shares (32.1 million shares) for $5.83 billion. When asked why they sold, Son replied, "We put them up for sale through tears to invest in U.S. OpenAI," and said, "In fact, I did not want to sell even a single share." SoftBank plans to make an additional $22.5 billion investment in OpenAI this month. The cumulative investment amounts to $34.7 billion.

SoftBank will secure an 11% stake in OpenAI, and its investment will surpass Microsoft (MS). If OpenAI is valued at $500 billion, SoftBank's stake would be worth more than ¥8 trillion. SoftBank and OpenAI are promoting the 'Stargate' project to build AI-dedicated data centers in the United States.

Regarding Japan's use of AI, Son said, "There is nothing that will prevent the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI) worldwide, but Japan is conservative and too slow. It's a big problem." He added, "I'm more worried about Japan than any other country. Japan, wake up."

Tokyo=Il-gyu Kim, correspondent black0419@hankyung.com