SoftBank Pours $53 Billion Into French AI Infrastructure, Betting Big on Europe’s Tech Future

Japan’s SoftBank Group is making its largest European bet yet on artificial intelligence, committing €75 billion to build out AI data center capacity in France over the next five years. The plan, announced Sunday, targets 5 gigawatts of compute infrastructure, with an initial 3.1 GW phase set for the Hauts-de-France region—including sites in Dunkirk, Bosquel, and Bouchain—by 2031.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son framed the investment as a strategic play for an industry at an inflection point. “The countries that build the infrastructure for this transformation will shape the future of technology, industry, and society,” he said. The company is partnering with French engineering firm Schneider Electric to develop a large-scale industrial cluster in Dunkirk.

SoftBank’s shares have surged more than 70% in 2026, buoyed by its deep ties to the AI boom—including a major stake in chip designer Arm Holdings and more than $30 billion invested in OpenAI. Those OpenAI holdings alone generated $45 billion in gains for SoftBank in the fiscal year ended March.

The announcement comes as Europe struggles to compete with the U.S. and China in AI, hampered by soaring energy costs. Power-hungry data centers are particularly sensitive to electricity prices, which have spiked amid the U.S.-Iran conflict. Analysts expect data center projects to gravitate toward regions with cheaper power, creating winners and losers across the continent. France, with its industrial base and talent pool, appears to be positioning itself as a prime destination.