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SoftBank Plans Up to 75 Billion Euros of AI Investment in France

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SoftBank Plans Up to 75 Billion Euros of AI Investment in France

SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) plans to invest up to 75 billion euros to develop and operate 5 gigawatts of artificial intelligence data center capacity in France, marking the company's largest AI infrastructure commitment in Europe.

The first phase involves a 45-billion-euro investment to build 3.1 GW of AI data center capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031, according to a press release on Saturday.

The initial projects will be located in Dunkirk, Bosquel, and Bouchain, with SoftBank planning additional sites across France to expand high-performance computing capacity for AI applications.

"AI is entering a new era, and the countries that build the infrastructure for this transformation will shape the future of technology, industry and society," Chairman and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said.

"SoftBank is proud to make this major commitment to France. With its industrial capabilities, talent base and national ambition, France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe," he added.

The facilities are expected to support demand from AI companies, cloud providers, enterprises, public institutions, and research organizations.

As part of the initiative, SoftBank will partner with Schneider Electric to establish an industrial production cluster at the Port of Dunkirk.

The cluster will include a SoftBank-operated facility to manufacture data center enclosures and a Schneider Electric-operated plant to produce integrated power modules for AI infrastructure.

Schneider Electric Chief Executive Olivier Blum said the partnership would help accelerate the deployment of high-performance and energy-efficient AI infrastructure.

The investment is expected to create thousands of jobs across engineering, energy systems, robotics, operations, maintenance, and advanced manufacturing.

The announcement was made as part of the 2026 Choose France summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and comes as Europe seeks to expand AI computing capacity and strengthen technological sovereignty to better compete with the U.S. and China.

However, realizing this ambitious scale will require massive capital beyond SoftBank's initial commitment. The Financial Times noted that industry benchmarks place the total cost of every 1GW of AI infrastructure, including land, construction, power and IT equipment, at about $50 billion. SoftBank's vision hinges on securing additional funding from yet-to-be-revealed financial partners, the FT said.

SoftBank's shares jumped 14% in Tokyo trading on Monday. The rally propelled SoftBank's market capitalization past 48 trillion yen, allowing it to overtake Toyota Motor (TYO:7203) as Japan's most valuable publicly traded company.

The milestone dethrones the automaker from the top spot for the first time in over two decades, according to reports. Toyota's shares fell 4.5% on Monday, with its market capitalization falling to 45.8 trillion yen.

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