Japan’s SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab will invest \u20ac45 billion over the next five years in a push \u200bto build up artificial intelligence infrastructure in France, \u200cfounder Masayoshi Son told the paper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Son said the investment, described \u200bas the biggest of its kind so far \u200bin Europe, would be made in the \u2060northern Hauts-de-France region. The overall sum SoftBank intends \u200bto invest in France will reach \u20ac75 billion, Son said, News.az<\/a> reports, citing Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n The \u200binvestment plans are due to be formally announced on Monday at the annual Choose France business conference.<\/p>\n According to La Tribune \u200bDimanche, two sites for data centres at Le \u200bBosquel and Dunkirk are expected to come into operation in 2028 \u200cand \u20602031 respectively, providing together more than 5 gigawatts of computing capacity.<\/p>\n “The fact that the country is a producer and exporter of energy is absolutely decisive \u200bfor investments in \u200bAI infrastructure,” \u2060Son said when asked why he picked France.<\/p>\n The French commitment adds to a \u200bglobal AI infrastructure spending spree by SoftBank. \u200bIts \u2060investments in AI also include over $30 billion invested in OpenAI so far, for about an 11% stake.<\/p>\n France \u2060has been \u200busing the Choose France summit \u200bto court foreign investors since it was launched by President Emmanuel \u200bMacron in 2018.<\/p>\n