Breaking

SoftBank's Masayoshi Son Forecasts 1 Billion Humanoid Robots by 2040 at SoftBank World

July 15, 2026 at 02:56 EDT

Robotics
AI Agents
Infra & Chips

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son used a Tokyo keynote to argue that artificial intelligence will reshape the global economy within 15 years, predicting that one billion AI-powered humanoid robots will be at work by 2040 and that AI will account for roughly 20% of world GDP. Speaking at SoftBank World, Son laid out a sweeping vision in which physical AI moves from experiment to economic backbone.

SoftBank World · Masayoshi Son Keynote

The 2040 AI Economy: One Billion Robots, One-Fifth of Global GDP

SoftBank's chairman argues that "physical AI" will become the economic backbone within 15 years — powered by trillions of autonomous agents, a billion humanoid workers, and infrastructure spending measured in the trillions.

AI-powered humanoid robots at work by 2040

~20%

of world GDP tied to AI activity (~¥7,000tn)

100tn

autonomous AI agents running continuously

$5tn

annual infrastructure investment required

One Humanoid ≈ Ten People

Son frames a single humanoid robot as worth roughly the labor of ten human workers.

1×

1 human worker

→

10×

1 humanoid robot

What The Vision Demands

Enormous, ongoing capital and power — the credibility of 2040 hinges on whether it materializes.

~¥800tn / yr

into data centers, chips & systems

Multiple TW

data-center power demand, far above today

First 20 yrs

where the decisive AI advantage is won

Supporters

The projections usefully frame the scale of the opportunity — the timing message may matter more than any single number.

Skeptics

No models, prices, dates or deployments were attached. Vision, not product — and Japan still lags China and the U.S. on AI adoption.

Continue reading

The rest of this article is for AI News Blitz readers. Choose an option below to keep reading.