Softbank's Masayoshi Son is not optimistic about Elon Musk's space data center, claiming that the key to winning the AI competition lies in on-the-ground computing power.

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son said that the value of Elon Musk's space data center scheme is limited, and the competition in the artificial intelligence race will be determined by computing power on the ground. On Tuesday, Son mentioned at the SoftBank Mobile Business annual shareholders meeting that the core advantage of building a space data center seems to be a significant reduction in electricity costs, but electricity costs only account for a tiny part of the total operating costs of data centers, with hardware like chips being the main expense. He added that even if electricity costs are saved, there would still be high costs for space transportation of materials, maintenance costs, and communication delays, making it not worth it. During the meeting, a SoftBank shareholder asked whether this Japanese company would imitate Tesla CEO's grand vision. Son responded: "The AI competition in the coming years is far more crucial than the long-term layout in ten years." SoftBank will focus on building a large-scale and powerful ground data center computing power. He believes that "the early bird catches the worm."