Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group has announced a landmark artificial intelligence infrastructure investment in France, pledging up to €75 billion (approximately $87 billion) to develop and operate 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity across the country. The deal, confirmed by CEO Masayoshi Son alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the Choose France summit, sent SoftBank shares soaring 14% in a single session and extended a 70% rally year-to-date.
The initial phase commits €45 billion ($53 billion) to building 3.1 GW of capacity in the Hauts-de-France region — specifically at sites in Bosquel, Bouchain, and Dunkirk — with a target completion by 2031. Son highlighted France's reliable, largely nuclear-powered electricity grid, industrial land availability, and engineering talent as decisive factors. The project will partner with French engineering giant Schneider Electric to create a large-scale industrial production cluster in Dunkirk, while the broader plan envisions an eventual $750 billion total system investment when factoring in the full ecosystem, according to Son.
SoftBank’s AI push extends its existing U.S. footprint, which includes a $30 billion stake in OpenAI and a strategic position in Arm Holdings. The France centers will serve AI companies, cloud providers, enterprises, public institutions, and research organizations, and are expected to generate thousands of high-skilled jobs. France’s minister of economy and digital sovereignty Roland Lescure called the move a reflection of the country’s “fast access to the most reliable electrical grid in Europe,” while EDF chairman Bernard Fontana noted the project would repurpose former industrial sites.
The announcement underscores the intensifying global race for AI compute infrastructure, as energy costs and supply constraints emerge as critical bottlenecks for the sector.
