Business

SoftBank plans up to €75 billion investment in French AI centres

May 31, 2026

Tokyo [Japan], May 31: SoftBank Group Corp. plans to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) to build 5 gigawatts of artificial intelligence data centre capacity in France, saying the country is poised to become a top European hub for AI infrastructure.
According to Bloomberg, the first phase comprises an initial €45 billion investment to deliver 3.1 gigawatts of AI data centre capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031, SoftBank said Saturday in a statement.
The commitment, which SoftBank called its biggest AI infrastructure investment in Europe, reflects personal diplomacy between Emmanuel Macron, President of France and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who met during the French president's visit to Japan this year.
Source: Emirates News Agency

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Leadership in the Age of Digital Transformation: Why Strategic Tech Fluency Is Now Essential

New Delhi [India], October 28: Organisations across industries are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, analytics, automation and digital platforms, yet the returns remain uneven. A 2025 McKinsey study found that only 16 % of digital transformation initiatives succeed in delivering sustained performance improvements, despite widespread adoption of advanced technologies. At the same time, Gartner reports that 65 % of organisations now regularly use generative AI in decision-making, signalling that access to technology is no longer the constraint. The disconnect lies elsewhere.

Oct 28, 2026