Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son has identified physical AI and robotics as the next trillion-dollar company opportunity. Softbank has deployed capital across the technology stack, with landmark investments in Alibaba , OpenAI and ARM transforming the Japanese multinational into an AI platform which has helped it overtake Toyota to become the country’s most valuable company. Asked by CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal what sectors excite him most, Son said “both” humanoid and industrial robotics, “with physical AI as a core.” Son spoke to CNBC on Monday after Softbank unveiled plans on Sunday for a 75 billion ($87 billion) investment in AI infrastructure in France, including 5 GW of AI data center capacity. He told CNBC that AI is potentially “50x bigger” than the dot.com boom — but denied that there is an AI bubble, adding that “this is just the beginning” of a technological “revolution” that could last 50 to 100 years. 9434.T-JP YTD mountain Softbank. While “there is always a correction”, such times are often ripe with investment opportunities, he added. He said that following both the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the dot.com bubble, markets later rose much higher, “with big profitable free cash flow.” “That kind of thing is going to happen,” Son said. “There may be some correction, but that will be a best investment opportunity time.”
