France is making a major push to establish itself as a global artificial intelligence hub. Earlier this month, President Emmanuel Macron announced that foreign and domestic companies have committed €109 billion to AI projects across the country, including a massive €50 billion pledge from the United Arab Emirates to develop a 1-gigawatt data centre in France.
Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris on 10th February, Macron highlighted the need for Europe to accelerate AI investments if the bloc hopes to remain competitive with the United States and China. He also revealed that a huge €109 billion has been secured for France through investment pledges and a range of projects from both domestic and international companies.
Reuters reports that Brookfield Asset Management plans to invest €20 billion in AI infrastructure in France, primarily in data centres, over the next five years. Meanwhile, Apollo Global Management has reportedly committed €5 billion to AI energy-related projects across the country, while Digital Realty is set to allocate €6 billion for data centre developments in Paris and Marseille. Amazon, meanwhile, has confirmed a €6 billion investment in its cloud infrastructure, part of which includes a previously announced €1.2 billion expansion by 2031, and the UAE is understood to have made a €50 billion pledge to develop a 1-gigawatt data centre in France.
France’s AI push amid global competition
While Macron has touted these investments as a game-changer for France’s AI ecosystem, the country still faces stiff competition from the US and China. According to The Verge, the EU as a whole has mobilised €185 billion to compete in the global AI race. However, US companies continue to dominate AI infrastructure investments.
A key example is Meta’s ongoing expansion in Louisiana. The tech giant has earmarked approximately €60 billion for AI investment this year, with one of its most ambitious projects being a €9.2 billion data centre in the Richland Parish. The facility, spanning 2,250 acres, will require 2.23 gigawatts of 24/7 electricity—enough to power over two million homes.
Macron’s vision for France’s AI ecosystem
Despite the scale of American investments, France is determined to carve out its place in the AI industry. According to The Financial Times, Macron has repeatedly pointed to France’s access to low-carbon energy as a key advantage for data centres. The country has also facilitated AI research through initiatives like Hi! PARIS, a joint research centre between HEC Paris and the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. Meanwhile, startups such as Mistral AI are gaining traction by developing open-weight large language models.
Macron’s announcement comes as the Stargate Project, a €460 billion AI initiative backed by OpenAI, Oracle and Japan’s SoftBank, accelerates AI infrastructure development in the US. Meanwhile, the big US tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta continue to invest billions in AI, widening the gap between Europe and its competitors.
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