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Masayoshi Son says AI infrastructure may need $5 trillion a year by 2040

Masayoshi Son says AI infrastructure may need $5 trillion a year by 2040

SoftBank’s chairman said AI agents could reach 100 trillion by 2040, with humanoid robots potentially replacing 3 billion workers as AI grows into a roughly 20% share of global GDP.

Fact Check
Multiple independent authoritative news sources reporting from SoftBank's July 14, 2026 annual corporate conference confirm both core figures. The Reuters report (via Yahoo) states Son said AI development will require $5 trillion in investment every year by 2040 and AI data centres will need 3 TW of power generation. Bloomberg and Financial Post independently corroborate the 3 terawatts of data center capacity figure for 2040. The claim's phrasing that data centers 'may need 3 terawatts by 2040' and '$5 trillion in annual investment by 2040' matches these sources precisely.
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Summary

SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son expanded his long-term AI forecast at SoftBank World in Tokyo, saying AI agents could number 100 trillion by 2040 and that artificial intelligence could account for 20% of global GDP, making it the largest industry in history. He said society is moving toward an agent-centric model and argued humanoid robots could replace 3 billion human workers by operating continuously and with greater precision. Son said that future would require a major expansion of data centers, a doubling in power consumption and annual investment of $5 trillion to build the infrastructure needed to support AI at scale. He also said AI development should be concentrated on the United States, which he described as the core battlefield for the AI revolution. The remarks add detail to Son’s broader case that AI spending reflects a structural industrial shift rather than a bubble, and fit with SoftBank’s wider push into AI-related investments and infrastructure.

Terms & Concepts
  • AI agents: Software systems that use artificial intelligence to carry out tasks autonomously or with limited human input.
  • humanoid robots: Human-shaped robots designed to perform physical work in environments built for people.