“I think this is like more than 10x, probably 50x bigger than dotcom,” Son told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal in Paris, a day after the company announced that it’s investing 75 billion euros ($87 billion) to build AI infrastructure in France, including 5 GW of AI data center capacity.
The SoftBank chief said the dotcom crash experienced a painful burst, which proved to be just a small bump in a much bigger long-term growth story.
“This is the biggest revolution of technology and realization that mankind ever experienced, so this is just like the beginning of the internet,” Son added.
Softbank’s investment, which marks the company’s largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe, involves building 3.1 GW of AI data centers in the northern Hauts-de-France region by 2031, including in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain.
“It’s a massive size of investment coming,” Son told reporters during a Monday press briefing with French President Emmanuel Macron. “We are doing that in the U.S. already, we are expanding a lot in the U.S., so we have the momentum, which we can make France the center of Europe, and Europe needs this kind of AI technology.”
The Japanese investment giant is partnering with French engineering company Schneider Electric to establish a large-scale industrial production hub in Dunkirk as part of the broader buildout.
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