Masayoshi Son said AI regulation is “necessary” for healthy industry growth, warning that AI must not innovate in ways that harm people. He paired that caution with a call to preserve and accelerate innovation. The comments, in a TIME interview published February 24, 2026, are a notable qualification of Son’s forceful AI optimism—not a reversal of it.
What did Masayoshi Son say about AI safety?
In its February 24, 2026 profile, TIME reported that Son called AI regulation “necessary” to maintain healthy industry growth. He said, “We cannot let AI innovate in a way that is harmful to human beings.” He immediately added: “You have to have the right balance of supporting, accelerating innovation.”
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That pairing matters: Son’s point was not that innovation should stop, but that the industry needs safeguards while it advances. TIME places the exchange in the broader debate over governing fast-moving AI amid large-scale investment in US infrastructure.
Son had also warned about AI without empathy
In a separate, company-published statement, Son described a risk tied to AI’s capabilities and values. His CEO message in SoftBank Group Report 2025, signed June 27, 2025, says: “When AI surpasses humans in its capabilities, if it does not possess empathy or care, it could pose significant risks.” The message uses the idea of artificial superintelligence and human partnership to express a concern about how powerful AI relates to people; it is not a detailed technical safety plan. Read Son’s message at SoftBank Group.
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Why the caution stands out against Son’s AI optimism
Son’s warning sits alongside a strong belief in AI’s transformative and commercial potential. TIME’s profile presents both his enthusiasm for AI and his support for regulation that prevents harmful outcomes. It is more accurate to read the safety comments as part of his effort to balance risk and growth than as evidence that he has turned against AI investment.
That optimism is also visible in Son’s investment rhetoric. The Associated Press reported on July 14, 2026, that he estimated almost $5 trillion in annual global investment would be needed for AI infrastructure and dismissed concerns about an AI bubble. The figure is Son’s estimate, not an independently verified forecast or a consensus projection. Read the Associated Press report.
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What SoftBank’s AI ethics committee says—and what it does not prove
SoftBank Corp., a distinct company from SoftBank Group, published an August 20, 2026 article describing an AI Ethics Committee it says was established in April 2024. The article discusses internal governance and employee AI literacy. Committee member Koji Sakuma—not Son—said: “Given the black-box nature of many AI systems and the speed at which the technology is evolving, it’s unrealistic for any company to guarantee complete safety.”
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The committee and its stated work provide context about SoftBank Corp.’s approach to AI governance, but the company article does not independently establish how effective its safeguards are. Sakuma’s qualification is explicit: complete safety cannot realistically be guaranteed. Read SoftBank Corp.’s article.
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How to read the “rare cautionary note”
“Rare cautionary note” is a characterization of how the comments contrast with Son’s public emphasis on AI’s potential, not a measured claim about how often he discusses safety. The clearest takeaway is that Son has voiced both a values-based concern about powerful AI lacking empathy or care and support for regulation that limits harm without suppressing innovation.
For background on Son’s career, TIME names Lionel Barber’s biography, Gambling Man: The Secret Story of the World’s Greatest Disruptor, Masayoshi Son. Its current edition and availability are not established here.
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