The global race for artificial intelligence computing infrastructure is deepening across the European continent. On May 30, SoftBank Group officially announced an ambitious computing expansion plan, which is expected to invest up to 75 billion euros (approximately 87 billion US dollars) in building a large data center cluster in France. This is not only SoftBank's largest investment in AI infrastructure within its European strategy, but it will also completely reshape the AI computing landscape in Europe.

According to SoftBank's disclosed strategic plan, the ultimate goal of this investment is to develop and operate additional data center capacity of up to 5 gigawatts (GW). The entire project will be implemented in stages, with the first phase focusing on northern France. SoftBank plans to build modern computing workshops in Loon-Plage, Bosquel, and Bouchain, aiming to directly inject 3.1 gigawatts of strong computing power into the Hauts-de-France region by 2031.

As a core investor and deep customer of OpenAI, SoftBank's heavy investment in France undoubtedly sends a strong market signal. Roland Lescure, the French Minister of Economy, expressed high praise for this move in a public statement, calling it a commercial milestone that strongly proves the ambition of President Emmanuel Macron to lead France into the core of the global AI value chain and establish Europe as the preferred destination for AI strategies.

However, in this green and power competition driven by AI, infrastructure expansion around the world is also facing unprecedented scrutiny. In the United States, due to growing concerns from the outside world about the natural environment, grid load, and rising public utility prices, opposition waves around data center construction are continuously intensifying. Despite this, SoftBank's rapid pace of infrastructure development has not slowed down; previously, it had announced the construction of a data center powered directly by a new 9.2 gigawatt natural gas power plant in Ohio, USA.

Industry analysts point out that SoftBank's decision to significantly increase its investment in France marks another deep integration of top global tech capital and geopolitical forces. With the demand for AI model reasoning and training showing an exponential surge, whoever secures key computing nodes in policy-friendly and well-equipped power facilities areas first will have absolute initiative in the next stage of the super intelligent competition.