Masayoshi Son, chief executive of SoftBank Group, told a Paris press audience that the ongoing wave of artificial intelligence innovation will dwarf the internet boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Speaking beside French President Emmanuel Macron, Son said the scale of the change will far exceed that earlier era, and that temporary market setbacks should be viewed as buying opportunities rather than reasons for alarm.
In his remarks, Son offered a quantitative comparison to the dotcom era: "I think this is like more than 10x, probably 50x bigger than dotcom," framing the current technological shift as substantially larger than the rise of the early internet. He acknowledged the possibility of market pullbacks but stressed their inevitability and potential upside for investors.
"there's always a correction," Son said, citing the 1929 Wall Street crash as an instance where markets later recovered and advanced over subsequent decades.
Those comments coincided with SoftBank’s announcement of a major investment in France. The group said it will deploy €75 billion - roughly $87 billion - to build AI infrastructure in the country. The commitment is presented as SoftBank’s largest to date in Europe and includes a targeted data center capacity expansion in the northern Hauts-de-France region.
The plan specifies constructing 3.1 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in Hauts-de-France by 2031, with sites identified in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain. That 3.1-gigawatt component is part of a broader 5-gigawatt buildout described by SoftBank.
SoftBank is partnering with French engineering firm Schneider Electric on a sizeable industrial production hub in Dunkirk as part of the effort. The arrangements and the scale of the financial commitment underline the company’s intention to establish France as a significant base for AI infrastructure in Europe.
Delivered during a press briefing alongside President Macron, Son’s remarks combined an expansive view of AI’s potential with a message that cyclical volatility should not deter long-term investment. The juxtaposition of the CEO’s bullish outlook and the accompanying infrastructure plan ties rhetorical ambition to a concrete, large-scale capital program in Europe.
Key factual elements from Son’s appearance in Paris include: his assertion that the AI revolution could be "more than 10x, probably 50x bigger than dotcom," his comment that "there's always a correction," the €75 billion ($87 billion) investment pledge for AI infrastructure in France, the commitment to build 3.1 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in Hauts-de-France by 2031 (with sites in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain), a total 5-gigawatt buildout plan, and a partnership with Schneider Electric on an industrial production hub in Dunkirk.