SoftBank's Son Weighs $100 Billion AI Investment in France

A Mega Deal in the Making

Masayoshi Son, the founder and chief executive of SoftBank Group, has held private talks with French President Emmanuel Macron about a potentially enormous artificial intelligence data centre project in France. According to reports, the Japanese conglomerate is weighing an investment of up to $100 billion, though the final figure could come in lower depending on SoftBank's other global commitments. An announcement could arrive within the coming weeks.

France's AI Charm Offensive

France has been working hard to position itself as Europe's premier destination for AI infrastructure. At a high-profile AI summit in Paris earlier this year, Macron showcased roughly 109 billion euros in AI-related commitments from foreign and domestic firms, including pledges from Amazon, Brookfield Asset Management, and the United Arab Emirates. The French president has also leaned heavily on the country's nuclear fleet as a selling point, highlighting 90 terawatt-hours of decarbonised electricity exports as a powerful advantage for energy-hungry data centres.

The finance ministry has signalled that fresh measures to support data centre development are imminent, though the rush has not been universally welcomed. Some local communities have pushed back, worried about strain on the power grid and broader environmental concerns.

SoftBank's Global Infrastructure Push

A French project would significantly extend SoftBank's already ambitious infrastructure footprint. The company is developing a massive data centre campus in Ohio as part of the Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle, a project Son has indicated will eventually attract $500 billion in investment. SoftBank has also poured $10 billion into the first tranche of a $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI.

On top of that, the firm is preparing to spin off and publicly list a new AI and robotics company called Roze, designed to automate data centre construction, targeting a valuation of $100 billion.

The Stakes

A $100 billion commitment would rank among the largest single foreign investments ever made in France. Neither SoftBank nor the Elysee Palace has commented publicly on the discussions, but the potential deal underscores how rapidly capital is flowing into AI infrastructure worldwide, and how aggressively nations are competing to host that build-out.