France attracts 93 billion euros in foreign investment - Half of this amount for SoftBank data centers
Foreign companies have pledged to invest 93 billion euros in France, with half of it to be invested by a SoftBank-backed fund for data center projects.
President Emmanuel Macron said the 71 projects unveiled at this year's "Choose France" summit marked a record year for foreign investment and were expected to create more than 15,600 jobs at a time when the unemployment rate, which remains higher than the EU average, has recently risen above 8%.
Japanese technology investor SoftBank will invest 45 billion euros to build three data centers with a combined capacity of 3.1 gigawatts in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031. This investment could potentially grow to 75 billion euros.
The investment is the latest in SoftBank's global spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. It has already invested more than $30 billion in OpenAI, taking an 11% stake in developer ChatGPT, and has agreed to invest another $30 billion in the company through 2026.
It is also leading the funding of the $500 billion Stargate project to build data centers in the United States.
Annual investment pledges at the “Choose France” summit rose to a record 93 billion euros in 2026, more than double last year’s 40.8 billion euros and above the combined total announced from 2018 to 2025.
Macron is seeking to take advantage of France's fleet of 57 nuclear reactors and growing electricity surplus to market the country as a hub for the artificial intelligence sector and the energy-hungry data centers needed to meet the computing needs of new technology.
Since 2018, around 231 projects have been announced at summits with investment pledges totaling 87 billion euros.
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