SoftBank Pledges €75 Billion for Europe's Biggest AI Data Center Project

SoftBank Group will invest up to €75 billion ($87.5 billion) to build 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in France, CEO Masayoshi Son announced Saturday. The first phase commits €45 billion to deliver 3.1 gigawatts in the Hauts‑de‑France region by 2031, with additional sites planned across the country, Fortune reported.

To grasp the scale: France currently has roughly 1.5 gigawatts of installed data center capacity as of the end of 2025, according to Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum, France 24 reported. SoftBank's plan would more than triple the country's total, making it the largest AI infrastructure investment in European history.

"This will be the largest investment in Europe in infrastructure related to artificial intelligence: 75 billion euros in total," Son told French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, France 24 reported.

The commitment is the result of direct diplomacy between French President Emmanuel Macron and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who met during Macron's visit to Tokyo in April 2026. Son, accustomed to fielding investment inquiries from corporate leaders, was intrigued by an approach made directly by a head of state and began reviewing the matter seriously, Fortune reported.

"I was very impressed by the fact that Emmanuel Macron is so personally committed to ensuring France's economic success, even though our investments have so far been concentrated mainly in the US, as well as in Japan and Asia," Son said, Fortune reported.

France's status as an energy exporter was the deciding factor. Data centers are enormous consumers of electricity, and AI‑scale compute multiplies that demand. "The fact that the country is an energy producer and exporter is absolutely crucial for infrastructure investments in artificial intelligence, especially for data centers," Son said, France 24 reported.

France's nuclear‑heavy grid gives it a structural advantage over neighbors like Germany, where energy costs and carbon policies make large‑scale data center projects more difficult. France says it has 35 venues ready to provide enough energy and other infrastructure for data centers. Macron has repeatedly argued that Europe must not let the United States and China take an insurmountable lead in AI, France 24 reported.

French electrical equipment giant Schneider Electric will be a partner in the project, with CEO Olivier Blum calling it "the largest ever undertaken in France" in the data center sector, France 24 reported. Schneider will participate in the design and supply of all equipment, and a factory will be built at the Channel port of Dunkirk, one of the three initial sites.

The first three data centers will be located at Dunkirk, and near the northern cities of Cambrai (Bosquel) and Amiens (Bouchain). SoftBank also plans to develop additional sites across France, reinforcing the country's role as a leading European hub for digital infrastructure, Fortune reported.

SoftBank's commitment is part of a larger global AI infrastructure spending spree. The company has already committed over $30 billion to AI investments, including its 11% stake in OpenAI, and Son is reportedly in talks to secure a $16 billion loan with plans for another $8 billion this year, Financial Times sources confirmed.

For AI builders, the France investment is significant because it creates European compute capacity at a scale that has historically been concentrated in the US. More compute options in Europe could lower latency for European users, provide data sovereignty benefits, and increase competition among cloud providers. Son acknowledged the challenge explicitly in his interview with,² noting that catching up with the United States remains a challenge for most countries, and that Europe must find the right balance between innovation and regulation.

The SoftBank‑France deal has several implications for developers and startups building AI products:

Timeline matters. The first 3.1 GW of capacity isn't expected until 2031. In the near term, the European compute shortage persists. Startups that need GPU access today still face the same constraints.

Energy will gate AI growth. France won this deal because of its nuclear grid. For builders, this means the geography of AI infrastructure will increasingly be shaped by energy policy, not just fiber and real estate. Data center locations will follow cheap, clean power.

Europe is competing, not conceding. Macron's direct pitch to Son signals that European governments are willing to fight for AI infrastructure investment. For European AI startups, this could mean more domestic compute options and potentially more favorable regulatory treatment over time.