SoftBank to Invest $87.5 Billion in AI Centers in France

(Patria) - Japanese tech investor SoftBank will invest 75 billion euros in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in France, its founder Masayoshi Son said in an interview published on Saturday for French newspapers, AFP reported.

"This will be the largest investment in Europe in AI-related infrastructure: a total of 75 billion euros," Son told the weekly La Tribune Dimanche ahead of a French investment conference organized by President Emmanuel Macron.

He said this includes 45 billion euros to be spent by 2031 on data centers in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.

French energy giant Schneider will be a partner in the massive project, its CEO Olivier Blum told AFP.

"This is a significant partnership, a major project, the largest ever undertaken in France" in this sector, Blum said.

"So far, by the end of 2025, France had an installed data center capacity of approximately 1.5 gigawatts, and what is now announced is that the initial phase will be 3.0 gigawatts, followed by a second phase that could reach up to 5.0," he added.

This announcement is a major boost to Macron's efforts to attract high-tech industries to France, competing with other European nations.

Macron will host an international investment conference at the Château de Versailles starting Monday.

Son (68) said he made the decision after meeting with Macron during a visit to Tokyo in April and that France's status as an energy exporter played a key role. Data centers are huge consumers of energy.

"The fact that the country is a producer and exporter of energy is absolutely crucial for infrastructure investments in artificial intelligence, especially for data centers," said Son, whose company holds an eleven percent stake in the giant OpenAI, which operates the ChatGPT chatbot.

The Japanese tycoon said he was also impressed by Macron's "strong personal commitment to ensuring France's economic success, even though our investments so far have been primarily concentrated in the United States, Japan, and Asia."

Blum said Schneider will participate in the design and delivery of all equipment, and the plant will be built in the port of Dunkirk on the English Channel.

The first three data centers would be in Dunkirk and near the northern cities of Cambrai and Amiens, he added.

France says it has 35 locations ready to provide sufficient energy and other infrastructure for data centers. Macron has repeatedly said that Europe must not allow the United States and China to take an insurmountable lead in artificial intelligence.

Son said that "catching up with the United States, currently the global center of gravity for innovation, is a challenge for most other countries."

Europe must, he added in the interview with Tribune, "find the right path" to achieve a "balance" between innovation and regulation.