SoftBank group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son and France's President Emmanuel Macron make a joint statement as part of a signing ceremony and a meeting at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, on June 1. [Photo/Agencies]
France is hoping a massive investment from Japan's SoftBank Group will make the country Europe's premier artificial intelligence, or AI, destination.
SoftBank's decision to invest 45 billion euros ($52.5 billion) during the next five years on three data centers in two locations in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France is thought to be one of the largest ever investments in European AI infrastructure.
The three centers are expected to deliver 3.1 gigawatts of capacity.
The company's founder, Masayoshi Son, told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper on the weekend that SoftBank has additional major plans for France in the years to come, largely because the nation can cope with the industry's massive thirst for electrical power.
