PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) – Japan’s SoftBank Group will invest €45 billion over the next five years in a push to build up artificial intelligence infrastructure in France, founder Masayoshi Son told the paper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published on Saturday.
Son said the investment, described as the biggest of its kind so far in Europe, would be made in the northern Hauts-de-France region. The overall sum SoftBank intends to invest in France will reach €75 billion, Son said.
The investment plans are due to be formally announced on Monday at the annual Choose France business conference.
According to La Tribune Dimanche, two sites for data centres at Le Bosquel and Dunkirk are expected to come into operation in 2028 and 2031 respectively, providing together more than 5 gigawatts of computing capacity.
“The fact that the country is a producer and exporter of energy is absolutely decisive for investments in AI infrastructure,” Son said when asked why he picked France.
The French commitment adds to a global AI infrastructure spending spree by SoftBank. Its investments in AI also include over $30 billion invested in OpenAI so far, for about an 11% stake.
France has been using the Choose France summit to court foreign investors since it was launched by President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.
(reporting by Tassilo HummelEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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