SoftBank Group today announced plans to spend up to 75 billion euros (about $87 billion) to expand data center capacity in France.
The goal is to develop and operate up to 5 gigawatts of additional data center capacity, according to the company. The first phase of the plan includes building data centers in Dunkirk (Loon-Plage), Bosquel and Bouchain, providing 3.1 gigawatts of capacity to the Hauts-de-France region by 2031.
SoftBank, an investor and customer of OpenAI, said this would be the largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe.
French Economy Minister Roland L’Escur described the announcement in a statement as “evidence of President Emmanuel Macron’s ambition to position France as a leading destination across the AI value chain.”
Opposition to building data centers is heating up in the United States, driven not only by environmental concerns but also by questions about how data centers will affect the power grid and utility prices. Nonetheless, SoftBank previously announced plans to build a new 9.2-gigawatt natural gas-powered data center in Ohio.
