SoftBank invests $81 billion in artificial intelligence centers economy

The Japanese SoftBank Group intends to pump investments amounting to 75 billion euros (about 81 billion dollars) throughout France to establish the largest data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure complex in Europe, in a move that reflects the acceleration of global competition to develop the computing capabilities necessary for artificial intelligence applications.

The group said yesterday, Saturday, that it will invest 45 billion euros (about 48.6 billion dollars) over the next five years in the Hautes-de-France region in the north of the country to develop the infrastructure for artificial intelligence, in a project described as the largest of its kind in Europe to date, and is scheduled to provide an operational capacity of 3.1 gigawatts of energy.

According to what was reported by the Financial Times newspaper, citing informed sources, the total planned investments may later rise to 75 billion euros (about 81 billion dollars) with the expansion of the project and the increase in the absorptive capacity by about 2 additional gigawatts.

The project is expected to be officially announced tomorrow, Monday, during the annual “Choose France” conference dedicated to attracting foreign investments, which was launched by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.

SoftBank stated that 3 sites will begin operating by 2031, including a site in the city of Dunkirk, with plans to establish additional sites across France in subsequent years.

Global investment campaign

For its part, the French company Schneider Electric said that it will be one of the main partners in the project by equipping the sites with the necessary equipment and electrical infrastructure, while the French government electricity company “EDF” will participate in developing the project after handing over one of its previous sites to turn it into a data center.

“Being an energy producer and exporter is very crucial for investments in AI infrastructure,” Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, said in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche.

The project comes as part of a broad global investment campaign led by SoftBank in the artificial intelligence sector, as the group invested more than $30 billion in OpenAI in exchange for a stake of approximately 11%, in addition to other investments aimed at expanding computing capabilities and data centers around the world.

Through these projects, France seeks to consolidate its position as a major European center for artificial intelligence, taking advantage of its large capabilities in energy production, especially nuclear energy, to attract huge investments in data centers and digital infrastructure.

SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

The company manages the Vision Fund, the largest technology venture capital fund in the world, and invests heavily in artificial intelligence and future technologies.