SoftBank announced that it will develop up to 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in France, with an investment of up to €75 billion, and separately confirmed a 1 GW joint venture project in Bosquel with French data center company Sesterce. The Bosquel campus is one of the first concrete projects under SoftBank’s broader French buildout.
SoftBank says the company plans to develop and operate 5 GW of AI data center capacity in France, describes the program as the company’s largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe. The first phase calls for €45 billion and 3.1 GW of capacity in the Hauts-de-France region, with data centers planned in Dunkirk (Loon-Plage), Bosquel, and Bouchain. The first phase is part of the 2026 Choose France summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.
“AI will shape the next era of technology, industry and human progress, and that future will require a new generation of infrastructure,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “Bosquel is an important step in SoftBank’s commitment to helping build that foundation in France, bringing together large-scale compute capacity and strong local partnerships to support Europe’s AI ecosystem.”
SoftBank and Sesterce said a majority-owned joint venture has been selected to develop and operate a 1 GW AI data center campus in Bosquel, France. The company said the site is intended to support AI workloads across Europe and forms a key part of the wider 5 GW commitment.
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Bosquel is the first named project inside a much larger French AI infrastructure plan. It turns a strategic statement into a buildable asset. The campus is engineered for large-scale compute demand, with emphasis on sustainability and lower water use. The location in northern France gives it access to major European markets, including Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt.
The data centers are now being planned around grid strength, land availability, and access to industrial partners, not only around network speed. France offers strong grid infrastructure, engineering talent, industrial land, and national support for AI.
What it means
SoftBank is no longer acting only just as an investor in AI software and models; it is moving into the ownership of the compute layer itself. That is a different business. AI model companies rent capacity; infrastructure owners control the supply of it.
In Europe, where governments are pushing digital sovereignty and local capacity, that shift has real policy weight as well as commercial value.
The French plan is the largest AI infrastructure initiative of its kind in Europe, and that framing is useful. The number that stands stands out is not only the investment size but the scale: 5 GW is large enough to place the project in a different category from ordinary enterprise data centers. The first phase alone, at 3.1 GW, is already bigger than many national programs discussed in the AI infrastructure market.
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The business case behind the move
SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son said the new AI era will require a new generation of infrastructure, and that France is well placed to become a major AI hub in Europe. The company’s argument is simple: if AI demand keeps growing, the scarce asset is not just the model, but the power, land, and infrastructure needed to run it.
SoftBank’s France announcements show a company betting that AI infrastructure will be one of the defining industrial markets of the decade. The €75 billion, 5 GW plan is the headline. The 1 GW Bosquel campus is the part that turns it into something measurable.
