ITHome November 9 news: According to a Bloomberg report this afternoon (the 9th), facing a possible slowdown in US AI data center demand, Junichi Miyakawa, CEO of SoftBank Corp., the telecom carrier under SoftBank Group, has begun to considerturning to other countries in search of growth opportunities。
SoftBank Corp. had originally plannedto launch a new AI cloud computing business in the United States, but the Democratic Party's sweeping victory in last week's midterm elections, combined with growing local opposition to data center construction, has forced the company toreassess the outlook for the US market。
At the earnings briefing held in Tokyo, Junichi Miyakawa told investors: "The major changes taking place in the United States may not bevery favorable to us. However, global AI data center demand remains strong, and if the situation in the US deteriorates too badly, we mayfirst start operations in other countries。”
As Japan's third-largest mobile carrier, SoftBank Corp. is also one of the most important cash sources of Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group. Since Junichi Miyakawa took the helm, SoftBank Corp. has actively expanded its data center and AI services businesses to capture the growing demand from Japanese companies.
In the six months through September (9), revenue from SoftBank Corp.'s cloud computing and AI business grew 37%, prompting the company to raise its full-year operating profit forecast.
Under SoftBank Corp.'s plan, its US data center constructioncould reach up to 10GW. At the same time, the company is also pushing forward the construction of large-scale battery cell mass-production facilities in Japan to meet Japan's ever-increasing electricity demand driven by growing AI computing power needs. Japan itself is poor in resources.
Investors have growing doubts about whether AI cloud computing services can deliver sufficient economic returns, and whether the massive investments in data centers can be sustained. Research firm Gartner estimates that by 2030,more than 3.5 trillion US dollars(ITHome note: about 23.38 trillion yuan RMB at current exchange rates) of AI infrastructure investment may face the risk of asset impairment.