What happened

SoftBank has laid out a plan to invest as much as €75 billion in AI data centres in France, positioning the country as a major European location for high-capacity AI infrastructure.

The announcement was made alongside the 2026 Choose France summit, an investment-focused event hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The first phase of the programme would put €45 billion into 3.1 GW of AI data centre capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031.

SoftBank identified Dunkirk’s Loon-Plage, Bosquel and Bouchain as part of that initial buildout, with other French sites planned later.

The broader plan targets 5 GW of data centre capacity over the coming years.

In Bouchain, EDF has selected SoftBank as the preferred bidder to develop a 400 MW data centre on the site of a former thermal power plant under a construction lease.

EDF said due diligence is under way, including a preliminary construction lease agreement, while a final lease would follow required regulatory approvals.

Why it matters

The plan is a large infrastructure signal for Europe’s AI market.

AI workloads are increasing demand for power, data centre capacity and lower-latency computing locations, and France is trying to attract investment that could support local industrial and digital priorities.

SoftBank is framing the project as support for European technological sovereignty and French AI infrastructure.

That framing matters because the assets would be located in France, while financing and operation would be led by a Japanese company.

The practical meaning of sovereignty may therefore depend on local partnerships, regulation, supply chains and where future AI customers are served.

Who is affected

The affected groups include AI infrastructure users, cloud and content platforms, enterprise customers, equipment suppliers and energy-linked industrial sites in northern France.

The project also links SoftBank to EDF at Bouchain and to Schneider Electric at the Port of Dunkirk, where the companies are planning an industrial production cluster.

That cluster would include one SoftBank Group facility to manufacture enclosures and one Schneider Electric facility to integrate data centre power modules.

For Bosquel, SoftBank and Sesterce plan a 1 GW AI data centre campus.

The site is being presented as useful for reaching nearby European business and technology hubs, including Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt, while supporting low-latency AI workloads.

What to watch next

The next test is execution.

Readers should watch whether the Bouchain regulatory process clears, whether SoftBank discloses more detail on partner financing, and how quickly the first phase can move toward the 2031 capacity target.

Another watchpoint is whether the French sites attract sustained enterprise and AI workload demand after construction begins.