75 billion euros invested in France, Masayoshi Son aims to build Europe's largest data center

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SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has placed France at the core of his global AI blueprint.

On May 31, SoftBank announced it would invest up to 75 billion euros in France to build a large-scale AI computing cluster network, marking what will become Europe's largest data center project to date.

This is the largest AI investment commitment by Son's group outside the United States. The announcement comes just ahead of Macron's "Choose France" investment summit next week, giving the annual event a major boost.

According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, the deal was swiftly reached after French President Macron and Masayoshi Son had dinner together in Tokyo in early April. Macron highlighted France's abundant nuclear energy resources and the advantages of fast approval processes for AI facilities.

Phased Construction, Initial Phase Locks in 45 Billion Euros

According to the agreement, SoftBank will lead a 45 billion euro investment to build 3.1 GW computing capacity in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France by 2031, with plans to add another 2 GW thereafter.

One of the main facilities will be located in Dunkirk, and SoftBank will cooperate with Schneider Electric to create an industrial hub integrating AI infrastructure and robotics manufacturing. This location conveniently covers customer bases in London, Brussels, and Amsterdam.

If the entire 5 GW complex is completed as planned, its scale would be comparable to the total output of five nuclear power plants, or about the peak power demand of New York City. SoftBank’s total investment would reach about 75 billion euros (approximately 87 billion US dollars).

Currently, the final customers and computing equipment providers for the facility have not yet been determined. Masayoshi Son commented:

SoftBank is proud to make such a major commitment to France. With its industrial strength, talent pool, and national strategic ambition, France has unique advantages and is poised to become Europe’s leading AI infrastructure hub.

SoftBank's AI Footprint Continues to Expand

The France project is a key part of SoftBank’s global AI infrastructure layout.

In March this year, Trump administration officials announced that SoftBank would launch a 10 GW data center project in Ohio. In addition, SoftBank is part of a consortium planning to work with G42, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, and Cisco to jointly build 5 GW of AI infrastructure in Abu Dhabi.

At a broader AI strategy level, SoftBank has pledged more than 60 billion US dollars to ChatGPT developer OpenAI and is preparing its robotics and energy businesses for listing in the US while continuously expanding semiconductor capacity around its core chip design asset Arm.

The ambition for data centers has to some extent replaced the previously planned 50 billion US dollar "Stargate" joint venture, which was originally intended to provide large-scale compute exclusively for OpenAI.

Europe Still Faces Structural Deficits

Although major tech groups are vying to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in plans to expand AI computing capacity, not all projects come to fruition as planned.

According to reports, OpenAI had previously announced a flagship facility construction project in northeast England, which was publicly endorsed by UK Prime Minister Starmer’s government last September, but it has now been indefinitely shelved.

From a macro-competitive perspective, Europe still lags far behind the US, China, and the Middle East in building large data centers to meet AI computing demand.

Investment flows generally prefer regions with lower energy costs, faster grid access, and more flexible planning and data emissions regulations.

France uses low-carbon nuclear power as one of its core selling points to attract investors and actively draws in industrial capital through its annual "Choose France" summit at Versailles, whose focus in recent years has increasingly shifted to the AI sector.

For Macron, SoftBank’s investment carries equally significant political weight.

With less than a year to the French presidential election, far-right parties continue to lead the polls, and Macron himself is legally barred from running again, making the "Choose France" summit an important stage for him to showcase his pro-business achievements.

Since taking office in 2017 with a pro-business agenda, Macron has consistently worked to attract overseas industrial investment, and a hefty commitment from a global top tech investor undoubtedly adds an important legacy to his administration.

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