The Japanese holding company SoftBank will invest 45 billion euros in France to develop 3.1 gigawatts of computing capacity for artificial intelligence. The amount will be spent over five years and could rise to 75 billion, bringing the capacity of the planned data centers to 5 GW. According to SoftBank, France could become “the main European hub for next-generation digital infrastructure”.
WHERE SOFTBANK’S DATA CENTERS WILL BE LOCATED IN FRANCE
The area involved in the investment – which SoftBank has presented as the largest in Europe in the field of infrastructure for artificial intelligence – is Hauts-de-France, in northern France: more precisely, the data centers will be located in Bosquel, Bouchain, and Dunkirk and are expected to be operational by 2031.
THE ROLE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY
The choice of this area was favored by its proximity to the Gravelines nuclear power plant. In this regard, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son told the newspaper La Tribune that “the fact that [France, ed.] is a producer and exporter of energy is absolutely decisive for investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure”.
Data centers are very energy-intensive facilities, meaning they consume large amounts of electricity; moreover, they require a constant supply, every hour of the day and night, every day of the week. Nuclear power plants can meet this demand, both in quantity and in the “mode of delivery”, also ensuring low costs and no greenhouse gas emissions.
– Also read: Renewables risk upsetting the accounts of French nuclear power
THE FRENCH COMPANIES PARTICIPATING IN THE INVESTMENT
The SoftBank investment will involve the French energy group Schneider Electric and the state electricity company EDF, which operates the country’s nuclear power plants and will transfer an old plant to the Japanese holding for conversion into a data center.
THE GOOD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MACRON AND SON
Beyond nuclear energy, SoftBank’s investment was also made possible by the good personal relationship between Son and French President Emmanuel Macron: the two met during the latter’s trip to Japan, between late March and early April.
“I was very impressed by the fact that Emmanuel Macron is so personally committed to ensuring France’s economic success” with the Choose France initiative, Son told La Tribune, “even though so far our investments have mainly focused on the United States, as well as Japan and Asia”.
OTHER SOFTBANK EXPENDITURES
SoftBank is carrying out an ambitious investment program to develop computing capacity and position itself well in the artificial intelligence industry. Last March, for example, the holding announced a large hub in Ohio with 10 GW capacity, powered by a gas plant. While a year ago it joined OpenAI’s Stargate infrastructure initiative, valued at 500 billion dollars.
As reported by Bloomberg, however, there are questions about whether SoftBank will be able to secure the necessary funding to realize all its projects. The agency noted that the holding, following complaints from some creditors, has already scaled back plans related to a loan secured by a 10 billion dollar stake in OpenAI.
