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Market Chatter: SoftBank Eyes France for New AI Infrastructure Project

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SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) founder Masayoshi Son is weighing a major AI data center investment in France following talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The project could involve billions of dollars and may be unveiled within weeks, possibly at the Choose France Summit. Son has discussed investing up to $100 billion in France, although the scale remains under review, according to the report.

The talks come as SoftBank expands its global AI infrastructure efforts, including planned data center projects in the US and the Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle, the report said.

Macron has pushed to position France as a center for AI development, citing the country's energy capacity and support for local AI companies such as Mistral AI, according to the report.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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