The logo of Japanese company SoftBank Group at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on November 21, 2025.
Kazuhiro Nogi AFP | Getty Images
Japan’s SoftBank Group plans to invest 45 billion euros ($53 billion) over the next five years to build an intelligence infrastructure in France, the company said Sunday.
The tech giant said the commitment is part of a €75 billion plan to roll out 5 GW of AI data center capacity in France.
It comes after Softbank overtook Toyota to become Japan’s most valuable company by market capitalization, according to FactSet data.
Softbank said on Saturday that the first phase of the investment plan involves building data centers of 3.1 GW in the northern region of Hauts-de-France by 2031, including in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain.
“The commitment marks SoftBank Group’s largest infrastructure investment in Europe,” Softbank said in a statement. “It is designed to support the rapid growth of artificial intelligence by increasing access to high-performance computing capacity in France.”
The CEO of Softbank Masayoshi Son confirmed the investment of 75 billion euros in a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, and indicated that the total investment is close to $ 750 billion when considering the full program.
Softbank is financing the project for the deal, Son said, adding that the business has hyperscalers as customers.
“It’s a big investment going forward,” he said. “We are doing that in the US already, we are expanding a lot in the US, so we have momentum, which can make France a center in Europe, and Europe needs this kind of AI technology.”
“There is no choice. The US is moving fast, China is moving fast, Europe, Japan, Asia must also move fast, not be left out,” he added.
Softbank said it would partner with a French engineering firm Schneider Electric to develop a large cluster of industrial production in Dunkirk as part of the construction.
Softbank Company shares last rose 14% on Monday and are up more than 70% in 2026 year to date on expectations that its investment in AI infrastructure will reap big rewards.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attended an AI launch event for businesses in Tokyo, Japan Feb. 3, 2025.
Kim Kyung-Hoon | Reuters
The Japanese company’s fortunes are closely linked to the AI boom through its participation Arm Holdingsits chip designs used in AI servers and data centers powered by Nvidia systems, and its investment in OpenAI.
Softbank has invested more than $30 billion in OpenAI, with its investment in the company totaling $45 billion in the year ended March.
Europe’s high energy costs have become a major stumbling block in its quest to become a global AI superpower, as the US and China dominate the AI boom.
The region is looking to move forward in the AI arms race by increasing computing capacity and building the critical infrastructure needed for the technology. But power-hungry data centers mean investment is more sensitive to energy costs, and prices in Europe are rising amid the US-Iran war.
Data center projects will likely move to parts of Europe with lower energy costs, creating winners and losers across the continent, experts say.
— CNBC’s George Bextor contributed to this story.
