At the annual Choose France summit in Versailles, President Emmanuel Macron announced a record-breaking €93 billion ($108 billion) in foreign investment pledges across 71 projects, which are expected to create over 15,600 jobs. The massive influx of capital comes at a crucial time for the French economy as the national unemployment rate has recently crept above 8%, remaining stubbornly higher than the European Union average.
The crown jewel of the summit is a monumental AI infrastructure deal with Japanese tech giant SoftBank, which has committed €45 billion—potentially rising to €75 billion—to build three massive data centres in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031. Boasting a combined capacity of 3.1 gigawatts, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son stated that the project aims to establish France as Europe’s primary AI hub, helping the continent close the computing capacity gap with the United States and China.
Macron successfully leveraged France’s domestic energy advantages to seal the historic deal, marketing the country’s growing electricity surplus and fleet of 57 nuclear reactors to meet the immense power demands of modern AI technology. Son noted that the agreement came together rapidly following an April meeting with Macron in Tokyo, allowing France to effectively transition from exporting raw electricity to exporting high-value digital intelligence.
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