The UAE is investing billions of euros to build a massive AI data centre in France.
The agreement, announced by French president Emmanuel Macron and Emirati president sheikh Mohamed ben Zayed Al-Nahyane on Thursday evening, comes ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris next week, for which some events are already underway.
A consortium of French and Emirati investors will back the new data centre project. An AFP report cites an investment of €30bn-50bn partly backed by UAE investment firm MGX, which specialises in AI.
The first tranche of investment will be announced in May at the ‘Choose France’ summit, a yearly event intended to encourage investments from global multinationals.
The data centre will be part of a “campus” expected to represent up to a gigawatt of compute power, aligning the project with some of the data centres built by hyperscalers like Google or Microsoft.
The two leaders also agreed to explore potential collaborations and other investments in AI.
“This includes investments in French and Emirati AI, the acquisition of cutting-edge semiconductors, data centres, the development of talent and the implementation of virtual embassies for data to enable the implementation of sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure in both countries,” reads a statement from the Élysée presidential palace.
It is the first major investment ahead of the summit, where hundreds of political leaders, high-profile CEOs and startups will gather to discuss AI regulation and innovation.
Earlier on Thursday, the French government also announced a new set of objectives as part of its AI strategy (a national strategy that launched in 2017), which included boosting the country’s AI infrastructure. Up to 35 sites have been identified across France as potential spots for future data centres, according to the government, representing up to a gigawatt of compute power in total.
Update, January 7, 2025: This article has been updated to add details about the new objectives laid out in France's national AI strategy.
