SoftBank investing in France as AI hotspot

France is hoping a massive investment from Japan's SoftBank Group will make the country Europe's premier artificial intelligence, or AI, destination.

SoftBank's decision to invest 45 billion euros ($52.5 billion) during the next five years on three data centers in two locations in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France is thought to be one of the largest ever investments in European AI infrastructure.

The three centers are expected to deliver 3.1 gigawatts of capacity.

The company's founder, Masayoshi Son, told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper on the weekend that SoftBank has additional major plans for France in the years to come, largely because the nation can cope with the industry's massive thirst for electrical power.

"The fact that the country is a producer and exporter of energy is absolutely decisive for investments in AI infrastructure," Son said.

The company also said France's low-carbon electricity grid, its abundant industrial land, and its engineering talent were key factors in why it was chosen ahead of other European candidates.

SoftBank is hoping to eventually expand its portfolio of French data centers to five, with a total capacity of 5 GWs.

They would collectively need as much electrical power to run as a small city.

SoftBank said its plans for France will result in thousands of new jobs in the engineering, robotics, energy systems, and operations sectors.

The company is fast becoming one of the world's biggest investors in AI and, according to the Reuters news agency, has bought around 11 percent of OpenAI for around $30 billion during recent months.

SoftBank, which became Japan's most valuable company on Monday after officially overtaking Toyota in terms of market capitalization, is a multinational holding company that mainly invests in technology-driven companies globally and that operates telecommunications companies in Japan. The company recently pivoted away from blockchain and said it would instead expand its AI venture strategy.

SoftBank plans to work with the United States data center and power platform SB Energy and other strategic partners on its expansion in France. Among them, Schneider Electric will help SoftBank run the new data centers and develop local, resilient supply chains for AI hardware in Europe. And EDF, the multinational electric utility company owned by the French government, will supply low-carbon electricity to the new centers from a repurposed former industrial asset. SoftBank will also work with local universities and training institutions on establishing research partnerships.

Son said the company's investment in France is part of its broader push to improve global infrastructure ahead of AI's next phase.

"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," he said. "France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe."

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