A record commitment, in two stages
On 30 May 2026, on the eve of the Choose France summit, SoftBank Group announced its intention to develop and operate 5 gigawatts of data center capacity dedicated to artificial intelligence in France, for an investment that could reach 75 billion euros. The commitment was formalized on 1er June at the Élysée, where Emmanuel Macron received Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of the Japanese group.
The figure of 75 billion requires a precise reading. Only a first phase is firm: 45 billion euros for 3,1 GW in Hauts-de-France by 2031, spread across three sites:
- Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk, close to the port and the Gravelines nuclear power plant;
- Le Bosquel, in the Somme, where a joint venture majority-owned by SoftBank and formed with the French company Sesterce is to develop a campus of 1 GW;
- Bouchain, near Valenciennes, on the site of a former EDF thermal power plant.
"These three gigawatts are certain and firm," insisted the head of state, specifying that other sites had been identified to reach the 75 billion, without a public timeline.
The order of magnitude remains considerable. According to Olivier Blum, CEO of Schneider Electric, cited by AFP, France had about 1,5 GW of installed capacity in data centers at the end of 2025. According to the Élysée, the 2026 edition of Choose France totaled a record 93 billion euros in confirmed foreign investments, nearly half of which for SoftBank alone.
What France brings to the table: electricity and speed
The Minister of the Economy, Roland Lescure, summarized in the SoftBank press release the advantages highlighted by the government:
"[This decision] reflects the considerable assets of our country: rapid access to the most reliable electricity grid in Europe, a strong digital and industrial ecosystem with a skilled workforce, and a government that works in concert with local authorities and relevant stakeholders to accelerate procedures for strategic projects." (Roland Lescure, SoftBank press release, translated from English)
Emmanuel Macron also highlighted the available energy, collaboration with the nuclear sector, and preparation of grid connections with RTE, stating that the agreement had been "built in two months." EDF CEO Bernard Fontana described the electricity for Bouchain as "competitive, sovereign, and low-carbon."
The industrial aspect is not negligible. SoftBank and Schneider Electric plan a production hub at the port of Dunkirk with two factories: one, operated by SoftBank, will manufacture data center enclosures; the other, operated by Schneider, will integrate power supply modules. The stated goal is to localize part of the supply chain in France.
Who will control these infrastructures?
The question posed by the title of this article remains open. The data centers will be developed and operated by SoftBank, with SB Energy and other partners. Their announced clients include AI companies, cloud providers, businesses, public institutions, and research organizations. The Japanese group is not a neutral player: it holds a majority stake in chip designer Arm and has investments in AI, notably in OpenAI, as recalled by cybersecurity expert Damien Bancal cited by France 3.
In other words, France gains computing capacity on its soil, but not necessarily sovereign computing capacity. Hosting servers says nothing about who owns them, who decides their allocation, or the foreign law to which their owners and clients may be subject. Contrary to what is sometimes argued, the AI Act does not impose any general obligation to store training data within the Union: its article 13, often cited incorrectly, concerns the transparency of high-risk systems towards those who deploy them.
Brussels has taken the measure of the problem. On 3 June 2026, the Commission proposed the Cloud and AI Development Act, which aims to at least triple European data center capacity in five to seven years and accelerate construction permits. In an opinion adopted on 23 September, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) supported this ambition while warning that building more infrastructure in Europe does not automatically guarantee sovereignty: without public procurement oriented toward European services, these new investments could primarily benefit large non-European providers.
Energy, water, territories: the costs to monitor
These projects also raise resource issues. According to ADEME, cited by France 3, data centers already account for approximately 2,2 % of France's annual electricity consumption. Adding several gigawatts of capacity requires trade-offs on the grid, while the electrification of industry and transport draws on the same resource. Chip cooling also raises the question of water, which SoftBank and Sesterce say they want to limit at Bosquel through adapted technologies.
On the employment side, promises remain to be measured: SoftBank mentions "thousands of skilled jobs" without an overall figure, and 400 sustainable jobs for the Bosquel campus alone. For the entire Choose France 2026, the Élysée announces more than 15 000 jobs for 93 billion euros in investments, which serves as a reminder that the data center economy is very capital-intensive and not very labor-intensive.
Sovereignty of territory more than of control
SoftBank's investment is an undeniable victory for attractiveness: it values French nuclear electricity, reuses industrial wasteland, and accelerates Europe's catch-up in computing capacity. But it also illustrates a limitation of the current strategy. France attracts infrastructure; it does not, however, decide on its use. To transform these gigawatts into real sovereignty, public authorities have concrete levers at their disposal: conditions for grid connection and energy access, public procurement criteria, security requirements for sensitive data. It is on these levers, and not on the announced amount, that the political significance of the announcement will be judged.
Sources: SoftBank Group, "SoftBank Group to Build 5 GW of AI Data Center Capacity in France", 30-31 May 2026 ; SoftBank Group, "SoftBank Group and Sesterce to Develop 1 GW AI Data Center in Bosquel, France", 30-31 May 2026 ; Élysée, interview with Masayoshi Son and statement by the President, 1st June 2026 ; France 3 Hauts-de-France and AFP, "A record investment of 45 billion euros…", 31 May 2026 ; European Commission, Cloud and AI Development Act ; CESE, "Europe's AI expansion risks deepening foreign dependence", 29 September 2026 ; AI Act, Article 13 (transparency towards deployers).
