France’s €110bn AI boom tests Emmanuel Macron’s tech ambitions

{"text":[[{"start":8.8,"text":"France secured more than €110bn of proposed AI and data centre investments this week, but the projects will test whether President Emmanuel Macron can overcome longstanding energy bottlenecks in order to become Europe’s tech powerhouse."}],[{"start":24.25,"text":"The announcements, which include a €75bn pledge from Japan’s SoftBank, would multiply France’s data centre capacity several times over if completed. Yet investors, energy executives and developers said the plans depended on an ambitious effort to accelerate approvals and grid access that had historically taken years."}],[{"start":44.95,"text":"The commitments, announced around Macron’s Choose France investment summit, amount to roughly 10 gigawatts of additional computing capacity — equivalent to the output of about 10 nuclear reactors."}],[{"start":56.300000000000004,"text":"The projects include investments from Canada’s Brookfield, France’s Ardian, Abu Dhabi-backed MGX and US software group Salesforce, alongside SoftBank’s planned AI computing clusters."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":67.85000000000001,"text":"Together, the proposals would represent a dramatic expansion of France’s digital infrastructure. The country had about 1.5GW of installed data centre capacity at the end of 2025, according to Schneider Electric, which is partnering with SoftBank on its rollout."}],[{"start":84.45000000000002,"text":"The investment wave represents a major vote of confidence in France’s abundant nuclear power and its efforts to position itself as Europe’s leading destination for AI infrastructure."}],[{"start":95.10000000000002,"text":"Executives involved in the projects cautioned, however, that turning announcements into operational facilities would require a significant acceleration in permitting, grid connections and local approvals."}],[{"start":106.70000000000002,"text":"Their success rests in part on a package of measures developed by the French government, state-owned utility EDF and grid operator RTE to speed up projects. These include offering investors former industrial sites with existing power infrastructure and streamlining administrative procedures that have historically delayed large developments."}],[{"start":128.20000000000002,"text":"“We have to focus on a few additional issues . . . speed, scale and simplification,” Macron told executives, including SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son this week, as the government sought to reassure investors that France could deliver the infrastructure needed to support the planned expansion."}],[{"start":144.70000000000002,"text":"The centrepiece of that effort is a series of “fast-track” sites on former industrial land, where investors can avoid some of the permitting hurdles that have historically slowed large energy-intensive projects."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":157.00000000000003,"text":"One of SoftBank’s chosen sites is located beside a former coal and gas-fired power station owned by EDF. Laurent Bataille, Schneider Electric’s head of Europe, said the project would use an existing high-voltage grid connection, allowing procedures that can otherwise take close to a decade to be significantly shortened."}],[{"start":177.95000000000002,"text":"SoftBank aims for an initial €45bn phase of its investment, spread across three sites, to be operational by 2031."}],[{"start":186.8,"text":"There remain questions as to whether SoftBank would ultimately deploy the full €75bn it had pledged, given the unprecedented scale of the investment and the long timelines involved."}],[{"start":198.35000000000002,"text":"The Japanese group’s plans form part of a wider push by founder Son to build AI infrastructure globally, but details of how the French investment would be funded remain limited."}],[{"start":209.25000000000003,"text":"Several people involved in the sector noted that large data centre projects were often announced years before financing is fully secured and were frequently developed in phases."}],[{"start":220.30000000000004,"text":"Brookfield and Data4, the French data centre developer it owns, have similarly secured a former industrial site that used to be a steel plant in northern France after winning a tender. Even with the advantages offered by the fast-track programme, executives acknowledged that timelines remained demanding — and even more so for any that fell outside those sites. "}],[{"start":241.35000000000005,"text":"“Building out AI infrastructure in France is not the same for everyone,” said Sikander Rashid, Brookfield Asset Management’s head of AI infrastructure, noting that the company’s northern France project was not expected to receive its first power load until 2029."}],[{"start":258.05000000000007,"text":"Even if capital is available, developers face other constraints. Grid connections remain lengthy in parts of the country because of permitting requirements and the need for network upgrades, particularly where new transmission lines must cross roads, farmland or residential areas, according to power industry executives."}],[{"start":275.9000000000001,"text":"The Paris region, one of Europe’s largest data centre markets, is already becoming increasingly difficult for large-scale developments because of pressure on land and electricity infrastructure, one industry executive said. As a result, France may need a more co-ordinated approach to deciding where future AI campuses and data centres should be located."}],[{"start":297.2500000000001,"text":"EDF says part of its fast-track strategy is designed to address concerns from local communities before projects are launched. Stéphane Raison, who oversees the state-owned group’s programme to prepare industrial and data centre sites, said efforts included limiting water consumption and prioritising former industrial land."}],[{"start":319.10000000000014,"text":"“If you launch a project and local authorities and residents say no, you lose time,” he said. “We don’t work in agricultural zones or nature areas.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":328.95000000000016,"text":"Outside the fast-track programme, delays remain common. Telehouse, the Japanese data centre operator, said a €1bn investment announced in 2024 to double its French network from four sites to eight was running roughly two years behind schedule because of administrative hurdles."}],[{"start":346.5500000000002,"text":"“Nuclear energy production is plentiful but not everything has an easy grid connection; it can take eight years,” said Sami Slim, the company’s head in France. “And as soon as local prefects get involved with permitting, it can get complicated.”"}],[{"start":360.25000000000017,"text":"Recent reforms may ease some of those obstacles. A law passed last month is intended to simplify authorisations for data centres and shorten the legal challenges that can delay construction. "}],[{"start":371.5500000000002,"text":"“It will help limit the number of legal appeals,” said Anthony Tchakerian, one of the co-founders of Sesterce, a French data centre developer also working with SoftBank.  "}],[{"start":380.8000000000002,"text":"But the success of France’s AI infrastructure push may ultimately depend on a more informal mechanism: direct intervention from Macron’s office."}],[{"start":389.70000000000016,"text":"Officials have increasingly assigned major investors a single point of contact to help navigate administrative procedures, an approach Macron has sold as the “Notre-Dame method” after the rapid reconstruction of Paris’s cathedral following the 2019 fire."}],[{"start":405.00000000000017,"text":"Investors say the approach has helped accelerate projects. Its durability, however, is less certain. Macron cannot stand again in the 2027 presidential election, and the outcome of the race remains highly unpredictable."}],[{"start":419.25000000000017,"text":"“If that method is maintained and becomes a Macron legacy, it can be an incredible lever,” Slim said."}],[{"start":434.8000000000001,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780564555_9652.mp3"}