SoftBank invests 75 billion in France to build Europe's largest AI hub

One of the main hubs will be located in Dunkirk, where SoftBank will collaborate with Schneider Electric to create a hub dedicated to both artificial intelligence infrastructure and robotic technology manufacturing. The geographical location of the site, overlooking the North Sea and close to major markets such as London, Brussels and Amsterdam, is considered one of the strategic elements of the initiative.

The French investment is part of the broader strategy by which Masayoshi Son is seeking to place SoftBank at the centre of the artificial intelligence revolution. In recent months, the group has pledged over USD 60 billion in OpenAI, the company that develops ChatGPT, is working on the US listing of certain assets in the robotics and energy sectors, and continues to strengthen the ecosystem built around Arm, the British semiconductor designer controlled by the group.

France aims to use this momentum to decrease the gap separating Europe from the United States, China and, increasingly, also the Gulf countries in building the infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence models. So far, much of the investment has been concentrated in areas with cheaper energy, faster connections to power grids and less stringent environmental and urban planning regulations.

The French project joins other initiatives promoted by SoftBank in the sector. In the United States, the group is participating in a programme to build a 10-gigawatt infrastructure in Ohio, while in the United Arab Emirates it is involved in a consortium that aims to develop an additional 5 gigawatts of capacity together with G42, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco.

However, several questions remain. Neither the future customers who will use the computing power of the new French facilities nor the suppliers of the IT equipment have yet been disclosed. Moreover, according to industry estimates, each gigawatt of artificial intelligence infrastructure requires total investments in the order of tens of billions of dollars between land, construction, energy and hardware. For this reason, SoftBank's plan will probably have to involve additional financial partners, with a structure based largely on the use of debt.

What is certain is that the announcement comes at a delicate moment for Emmanuel Macron. The French president, who since 2017 has built his economic agenda around attracting industrial and technological investment, is preparing to host a new edition of 'Choose France' less than a year after a particularly uncertain presidential election, in which he will not be able to run again.