SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son: AI Revolution is 50 Times Larger than the Internet Bubble
Alina Collins
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says the AI revolution will be 50 times the scale of the dot-com bubble — and backed the claim with a €75 billion commitment to French AI infrastructure.
What does "50 times" actually mean?
Son told CNBC in Paris that AI is "10 times bigger than the internet bubble, maybe even 50 times."
This means → he sees AI not as another dot-com-style hype cycle but as a fundamentally different order of magnitude.
In plain terms = if the 2000 dot-com peak was a hill, Son is calling AI an entire mountain range.
Where is the money going?
The day before the interview, SoftBank announced a €75 billion (≈$87 billion) investment in France.
The funds target AI infrastructure, including 5 gigawatts of AI data-center capacity.
This means → Son is not just talking big numbers — the investment itself is a bet on the "50×" thesis.
How does he answer the bubble concern?
Son acknowledged the dot-com bubble was real and did burst.
His key argument: the bubble peak was just a "small hill" — the market grew far beyond that level afterward.
In plain terms = his logic is simple — even if a short-term bubble forms and pops, long-term growth will dwarf the peak. "After the decline, even bigger, bigger growth followed."
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