SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son stated that Elon Musk’s concept of space-based data centers holds little significance, asserting that the outcome of the AI race will be determined by computing power on Earth.
On Tuesday, June 23, SoftBank Corp., the mobile subsidiary of SoftBank Group, held its annual shareholder meeting. Son was successfully re-elected as a director and participated in the shareholder Q&A session.
During the meeting, Son noted that the primary advantage of building data centers in space is the reduction of electricity costs. However, compared to hardware expenditures such as chips, electricity accounts for only a small fraction of data center operational costs.
He pointed out that any savings on electricity would be offset by higher launch and transportation expenses, maintenance costs, and communication latency.
When asked by a shareholder whether SoftBank would emulate Musk’s ambitious plan, Son remarked: “In the AI competition, what happens in the next few years matters far more than what occurs a decade from now.”
With growing demand for computing power, both Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have announced plans to build and launch orbital data centers, aiming to overcome Earth’s energy and spatial constraints.
Earlier, SpaceX disclosed in its prospectus that it plans to begin launching in-orbit data centers by 2028, though the document did not specify the estimated cost of the system.
SpaceX also acknowledged that the plan is “technically complex, with related technologies not yet validated, and the project may not achieve commercial viability.”
Son praised Musk as “an exceptional agent of change,” but emphasized that SoftBank remains focused on building “robust” data center capabilities on Earth, adding that “the first mover wins.”
Currently, Son has committed approximately $65 billion in investments to OpenAI and plans to allocate hundreds of billions of dollars globally to construct data centers and related infrastructure.
Son acknowledged that competition in the AI sector is intensifying, but he believes that OpenAI, along with its primary rivals Anthropic and Google, all have ample room for growth.
He stated that artificial intelligence is still in its early stages, with future growth potential of “tenfold, a hundredfold.”
Additionally, SoftBank CEO Junichi Miyakawa revealed that the company is preparing to enter the U.S. market for “Neocloud,” AI-dedicated cloud infrastructure, and energy storage batteries for data centers.
Miyakawa also mentioned that SoftBank’s Neocloud business in Japan is expected to commence operations this year.
