Japan’s SoftBank Group is making a massive bet on European artificial intelligence infrastructure, committing €45 billion over the next five years to build data centers in northern France.
Founder Masayoshi Son told French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche the investment-the largest of its kind in Europe to date-will be located in the Hauts-de-France region. When including additional commitments, total investment in France is expected to reach €75 billion.
The plans are set to be formally announced Monday at the annual Choose France business conference, a government-led initiative launched by President Emmanuel Macron in 2018 to court foreign capital.
Two sites at Le Bosquel and Dunkirk are expected to come online in 2028 and 2031, together providing more than 5 gigawatts of computing capacity.
Son cited France's status as an energy producer and exporter as a decisive factor for AI infrastructure investment.
SoftBank’s global AI spending spree also includes over $30 billion invested in OpenAI so far, representing about an 11% stake.