SoftBank's Masayoshi Son predicts fusion power will fuel AI's future as demand soars

SoftBank's Masayoshi Son slams opponents of AI

Masayoshi Son has ridiculed opponents of AI for "spitting upwards" as the SoftBank billionaire predicted the technology would account for 20 per cent of global output by 2040. Son told a room of executives at his annual SoftBank World event that condemning AI was the modern version of rejecting cars and aeroplanes. "Those who dislike AI have essentially refused their own evolution," he said. "Those who condemn AI are themselves spitting upwards." His comments came as the veteran investor inserts himself into the AI revolution through huge investments in Arm, OpenAI and other tech companies. Yet investors are growing wary of SoftBank Group's rising leverage and the possibility of delays to OpenAI's initial public offering. SoftBank has been attempting to build a role across data centre infrastructure, AI models, chips and robots in order to cement itself at the centre of what Son believes will be an evolution to superintelligence. While there has been a public backlash over the perceived impacts of AI on employment, Son expressed his distaste for the hesitant -- especially Japanese business leaders who failed to create new giants in the internet era. "Modest presidents" who are not prepared to embrace AI to become number one in their industry within 15 years "should play the role of spouse", he said. "The most important thing for the president to say is 'AI, AI, AI'." The 68-year-old expressed bullish views on the potential for AI to transform the global economy, predicting with confidence that it would account for $46tn of global GDP within 15 years and generate annual profits of half that figure. To enable the rollout of AI, the Japanese investor estimated that 3 terawatts of data centres would be needed by 2040 to provide the computing power to run trillions of AI agents and billions of humanoid robots. The figure is equivalent to about a third of total installed power capacity globally, according to the International Energy Agency's estimates. The SoftBank founder said gas-fired power generation would be needed to achieve that, but in the longer term, nuclear fusion would take its place. Numerous start-ups and research programmes are working on fusion around the world, but none has demonstrated sustained power generation to date. SoftBank's energy arm was selected to deliver a $33bn gas-fired power plant in Ohio, a controversial project within the $550bn investment framework that Washington and Tokyo agreed last year in return for US President Donald Trump lowering tariffs on Japan. SoftBank's shares have risen 35 per cent so far this year but have come under pressure since peaking in June because of worries over the timing of OpenAI's blockbuster listing.

SoftBank's Masayoshi Son sees fusion power as key to AI's future

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son said that in the not-so-distant future, nuclear fusion technology will offer the most realistic solution for powering AI data centers' ballooning needs. Natural gas will provide the bulk of data centers' power needs for the time being, Son said Tuesday. But he predicted that nuclear fusion -- the process by which the sun and other stars generate energy -- has a role to play, predicting the world will need 3 terawatts of data center capacity in 2040. Many technological and financial challenges remain for fusion technology to become a viable energy source, however, according to BloombergNEF. "Fusion will become the main source of a new kind of cheaper, clean and safe energy here on Earth," said Son, 68, at an annual SoftBank World event in Tokyo. "Is it okay to be using so much gas power? I think in 15 years, fusion will take its place." Son has argued fervently against reliance on nuclear power following the 2011 meltdown of Tokyo Electric Power Holdings' Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Nuclear fusion can, in theory, provide large amounts of energy with low carbon emissions, less long-lasting radioactive waste than conventional nuclear fission, without the risk of chain reactions. In recent years, investment in fusion companies has surged, with several companies moving from research to building prototypes. The U.S. Energy Department has set a goal for scaling up the technology in the mid-2030s. The technology is promising but complex: It offers tantalizing dreams of near-infinite clean electricity, but only a few countries have even managed to crack the basics so far. Natural gas is readily available now and accounts for more than one-fifth of global power generation. But while it emits less greenhouse gases than oil or coal, burning it still creates emissions that contribute to planetary warming. The extraordinary cost of building data center infrastructure will pay for itself, Son argued, dismissing growing questions about whether the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on AI hardware will deliver returns. "Asking whether AI is a bubble is an incredibly foolish question," posed by people who do not understand or thoroughly use AI, Son said. If Japan is unable to recognize AI's potential, the country's economy will miss out on an opportunity for wealth that created the world's biggest companies such as Google, Amazon and Meta Platforms, he warned.

SoftBank's Masayoshi Son Bets Big on Fusion Power for AI

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son says nuclear fusion could become the ultimate energy source for artificial intelligence, arguing that future AI data centers will require massive electricity supplies beyond what today's power infrastructure can provide. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son believes nuclear fusion could be a long-term answer to one of artificial intelligence's biggest problems, mainly the power side. In his view, fusion would help supply the huge data centers that future AI systems will want, or something close to that. Son also said that the more people lean into AI, the faster electricity consumption is likely to climb in the years ahead. It might feel like this challenge can be smoothed over soon using natural gas, but he argues that the better end game is nuclear fusion.