- Japan’s Softbank is planning to invest 45 billion euros ($53 billion) over five years to build AI infrastructure in France in the first phase of its push.
- The commitment is part of a 75-billion-euro ($87 billion) program by Softbank to build AI data centers in France
- It marks the Japanese tech giant’s largest AI infrastructure investments in Europe.
- Soaring energy prices in Europe have been a barrier in its efforts to compete with the U.S. and China in AI.
Japan’s SoftBank Group plans to invest 45 billion euros ($53 billion) over the next five years to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in France, the company said on Sunday.
The tech giant said the commitment is part of a 75-billion-euro program to roll out 5 GW of AI data center capacity in France.
It comes after Softbank overtook Toyota to become Japan’s most valuable company by market cap, according to FactSet data.
Softbank said Saturday that the initial phase of the investment plan involves building 3.1 GW of AI data centers in the northern Hauts-de-France region by 2031, including in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain.
“The commitment marks SoftBank Group’s largest AI infrastructure investments in Europe,” Softbank said in a statement. “It is designed to support the rapid growth of artificial intelligence by expanding access to high-performance compute capacity in France.”
Softbank’s CEO Masayoshi Son confirmed the 75 billion euros in investment in a press briefing with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, and signaled that the full investment is closer to $750 billion when taking the full system into account.
Softbank is aggregating project financing for the deal, Son said, adding that the venture has hyperscalers as customers.
“It’s a massive size of investment coming,” he said. “We are doing that in the U.S. already, we are expanding a lot in the U.S., so we have the momentum, which we can make France the center of Europe, and Europe needs this kind of AI technology.”
“There’s no choice. U.S. is going fast, China is going fast, Europe, Japan, Asia have to also go fast, not to be left out,” he added.
Softbank said it would partner with French engineering company Schneider Electric to develop a large-scale industrial production cluster in Dunkirk as part of the buildout.
Softbank’s shares were last up 14% on Monday and have risen more than 70% in 2026 so far on expectations that its investments in AI infrastructure will reap big rewards.
The Japanese company’s fortunes are closely tied to the AI boom through its stake in Arm Holdings, whose chip designs are used in AI servers and data centers powered by Nvidia systems, and its investments in OpenAI.
Softbank has plowed more than $30 billion into OpenAI, with its investment gains in the company totaling $45 billion in the year ended March.
Europe’s high energy costs have become a major stumbling block in its bid to become a global AI super power, as the U.S. and China dominate the AI boom.
The region is looking to get ahead in the AI arms race by ramping up compute capacity and building out the critical infrastructure needed for the technology. But power-hungry data centers mean investments are particularly sensitive to the cost of energy, and Europe’s prices are surging amid the U.S.-Iran war.
Data center projects are likely to migrate to parts of Europe with lower power costs, creating winners and losers across the continent, experts say.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/31/softbank-to-build-up-ai-data-centers-in-france-with-major-investment.html?taid=090f2e7d-0242-41c0-8550-da090c648c39&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_content=main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&shem=rimspwouoe,
