A few days ahead of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, the French presidency has announced the first of several expected financial initiatives related to AI. France’s Emmanuel Macron and the United Arab Emirates’ Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have signed an agreement for a significant investment to build a massive data center dedicated to artificial intelligence in France.
According to a report from the AFP, France and the UAE could spend “€30 to €50 billion” ($31 to 52 billion at current exchange rates) to build an AI campus. Most of the investment would go toward a data center with a capacity of up to 1GW.
On Thursday morning, France’s digital and AI minister Clara Chappaz said France has identified 35 locations that could be used to build out new data centers with fast-track administrative approvals. The UAE’s data center investment will likely take advantage of that framework.
Around 65% of France’s electricity production comes from nuclear power plants. The country also gets around 25% of its electricity from renewable sources. As big tech companies struggle to reduce their carbon footprint, France is using the AI Action Summit as an opportunity to attract foreign investments, especially for those power-hungry data centers.
A consortium of French and Emirati investors will back the data center project in France. MGX, the Emirati investment firm dedicated to artificial intelligence, will contribute.
MGX was also listed as one of the initial investors in Stargate, the large-scale AI investment project led by SoftBank and OpenAI. Commenting on Stargate and Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s recent breakthrough, Chappaz sounded hopeful about France’s and Europe’s future prospects.
“Just the magnitude and the scale between these two announcements show that this is just the beginning,” she said at a tech meetup organized by Balderton and Photoroom on Thursday evening. “Because this technology is our opportunity to catch up,” she added.
On Monday and Tuesday, heads of state will flock to Paris to meet global tech leaders. They’ll likely announce more investment deals and a joint statement. The diplomatic agreement could potentially focus on the environmental impact of artificial intelligence.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, China’s Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz are all expected to come to the Grand Palais in Paris for the summit.
