[Digital Today reporter Hyunwoo Choo] SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son (손정의) assessed the AI revolution as a change 50 times bigger than the dotcom boom of the 2000s. CNBC reported on June 1 (local time) that Son said in Paris, France, that the AI revolution is more than 10 times, probably 50 times bigger than dotcom.

The remarks came just after SoftBank announced a day earlier that it would invest 75 billion euros, about $87 billion, to build AI infrastructure in France. The investment plan includes 5 GW of AI data centre capacity.

Son said the dotcom collapse was also only a small bump in the long-term growth trend. He described AI as the biggest technological revolution humanity has experienced and explained that it is now at a stage corresponding to the early internet.

On concerns about an economic downturn, he acknowledged the possibility of a correction. Son mentioned the 1929 Wall Street crash, saying there is always a correction, but that the electronics industry and the motorisation of automobiles also grew for a long period after that shock, adding that if a correction comes it can be the best investment opportunity.

The investment is SoftBank's largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe. SoftBank plans to build 3.1 GW of AI data centres by 2031 in Dunkirk, Vaulx-Vraucourt and Bouchain in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.

In a briefing with French President Emmanuel Macron (에마뉘엘 마크롱), Son said large-scale investment would continue. He added that the same work is being carried out and expanded in the United States, and said that this momentum could make France the centre of Europe.

SoftBank also plans to build a large industrial production base in Dunkirk together with French engineering company Schneider Electric.