Woofun AI reports that Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank Group, explicitly rejected the concept of space-based data centers during the annual general meeting of SoftBank's Japanese telecom unit on June 23. Son argued that while orbital facilities might lower electricity bills, power constitutes only a minor fraction of total operating expenses compared to core hardware like chips. He highlighted that the prohibitive costs of rocket transportation, complex maintenance challenges, and communication latency render space deployment impractical for current AI infrastructure needs.

Concurrently, Son emphasized that the AI industry's competitive landscape will be defined by developments within the next few years rather than distant visions. SoftBank intends to maintain its focus on constructing robust terrestrial data center infrastructure to leverage a 'first-mover advantage.' Additionally, the company's Japanese telecom division is preparing to launch Neocloud, a specialized cloud computing service tailored for AI applications, into the U.S. market.