The Japanese multinational firm SoftBank Group has announced a commitment of up to €75bn ($87.3bn) to develop 5GW of artificial intelligence (AI) data centre capacity across France.
The investment was unveiled at the Choose France summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
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Initially, €45bn ($52.3bn) will be directed towards building 3.1GW of capacity by 2031, spanning three sites in the Hauts-de-France region: Dunkirk (Loon-Plage), Bosquel, and Bouchain, with additional locations planned elsewhere in France.
SB Energy, an energy and infrastructure developer focused on data centres backed by Softbank, and other partners will be involved in project development.
“AI is entering a new era, and the countries that build the infrastructure for this transformation will shape the future of technology, industry and society,” SoftBank Group chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said.
“SoftBank is proud to make this major commitment to France. With its industrial capabilities, talent base and national ambition, France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe,” he added.
As part of the initial phase, a joint venture majority-owned by SoftBank Group and formed with data centre operator Sesterce has been selected to develop and operate a 1GW AI data centre campus at Bosquel.
The joint venture intends to establish a €10m ($11.6m) endowment fund, jointly managed with the Hauts-de-France region, to support AI adoption among local businesses, schools, universities, and community organisations.
SoftBank Group will additionally partner with Schneider Electric on a large-scale industrial production cluster at the Port of Dunkirk.
The cluster will comprise two facilities.
One will be operated by SoftBank Group to manufacture enclosures, while the other will be operated by Schneider Electric to integrate data centre power modules, with the aim of building a more localised supply chain for data centre infrastructure across France and Europe.
SoftBank Group described the commitment as its largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe.
The company said the projects would generate thousands of high-skilled jobs across data centre development, engineering, energy systems, robotics, and advanced manufacturing.
It also said there are plans to support regional research and development through partnerships with local universities and training institutions.
