French President Emmanuel Macron has announced €93 billion in foreign investment, much of which will be devoted to developing artificial intelligence infrastructure. A key investor will be the Japanese holding company SoftBank, which plans to invest €45 billion in the construction of three data centers in the O-de-Français region with a total capacity of 3.1 GW. The head of SoftBank has assumed that if the project is successful, the volume of investments could rise to €75 billion and the completion of work is scheduled for 2031.

One of the main advantages of France for hosting energy-intensive data centers, Macron mentioned advanced nuclear power: 57 reactors are operating in the country, and France itself is a net exporter of electricity. This creates unique conditions for scaling AI infrastructure, which is critically important for stable and affordable energy sources. The deal was a result of negotiations initiated during Macron’s state visit to Tokyo in April 2026.

New investments aim to close Europe’s gap with the US and China in computing power for AI. However, the key question remains open: can France implement the announced projects in full by 2031 - both in terms of construction timeline and actual capacity launch? This will determine how much Europe’s position in the global AI infrastructure market changes.