Overview
- Masayoshi Son told La Tribune Dimanche that SoftBank will spend a firm €45 billion over five years on AI data centres in Hauts‑de‑France, with an overall programme presented as up to €75 billion to reach as much as 5 GW of capacity.
- The plan’s first phase targets roughly 3.0–3.1 GW of capacity by 2031 with sites named at Dunkirk (Loon‑Plage), Le Bosquel and Bouchain and some facilities expected to begin operating as early as 2028.
- Schneider Electric and EDF are named partners, with Schneider set to build a factory at the port of Dunkirk and EDF providing a converted former power‑plant site at Bouchain for data‑centre use.
- Analysts and coverage stress that the €75 billion figure is a ceiling or long‑range ambition while the €45 billion/phase‑one commitment is the immediate, confirmed pledge and that major execution risks remain, including permitting, grid connections and construction timelines.
- France’s attraction for the project rests on its nuclear‑heavy grid that supplies lower‑carbon, exportable power and on President Macron’s Choose France summit, where the investment was due to be formalised and which aims to boost Europe’s sovereign AI compute capacity.