according to afp, france and the uae are considering an investment between €30 billion and €50 billion ($31–52 billion) to develop an ai campus, with a significant portion allocated to a 1gw-capacity data center.
on thursday, france’s digital and ai minister, clara chappaz, stated that the country has identified 35 potential locations for new data centers with fast-tracked approvals. the uae's investment will likely leverage this framework.
france’s nuclear power plants supply 65% of the nation’s electricity, with another 25% sourced from renewables. as tech giants strive to minimize their carbon footprint, france is using the ai action summit to attract foreign investment in energy-intensive ai infrastructure.
a french-emirati investor consortium will support the data center project, with mgx, an emirati ai-focused investment firm, contributing to the initiative.
mgx was also an initial investor in stargate, a large-scale ai investment project led by softbank and openai. commenting on stargate and the advancements of chinese ai startup deepseek, chappaz expressed optimism about france and europe's ai prospects.
“the scale of these announcements shows this is just the beginning,” she said at a tech event hosted by balderton and photoroom. “this technology is our chance to catch up.”
on monday and tuesday, world leaders will convene in paris to engage with global tech executives, likely unveiling additional investment deals and a joint statement, potentially addressing ai's environmental impact.
dignitaries expected at the summit include u.s. vice president j.d. vance, china’s vice premier zhang guoqing, european commission president ursula von der leyen, and german chancellor olaf scholz.