France unveils £100bn AI investment with UAE partnership
France has announced investments in artificial intelligence valued at approximately £100 billion, including constructing a data centre in collaboration with the UAE. The announcement coincides with the AI Action Summit in Paris, where global leaders discuss AI's future and global technological challenges.
During the international AI Action Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will invest roughly £100 billion in the development of artificial intelligence.
For France, this is equivalent to what the United States announced in the Stargate project – said Macron on France 2 television.
He explained that this sum includes investments from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), "large American and Canadian investment funds", as well as French enterprises such as telecommunications operators: Iliad, Orange, and the electronics company Thales.
France as the AI hub in Europe
One of the key projects is the construction of a vast data processing centre in France, co-financed by the UAE. Its value is estimated at approximately £28 billion to £46 billion, and the complex is set to become one of the largest artificial intelligence centres in Europe.
From 10-11 February, the AI Action Summit is taking place in Paris, where political leaders and representatives of tech giants from 80 countries are gathering. Among the guests are U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"Arms race" in the AI industry
On 23 January 2025, the Bank of China presented the "Action Plan for Supporting the Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Chain", which means that over the next five years, the Chinese bank will allocate at least £109 billion to support AI industry entities financially.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and the heads of Japan's Softbank, Oracle, and OpenAI announced the Stargate project at the White House after his inauguration. The giants will invest up to £420 billion in building data centres and architectures needed to develop artificial intelligence.
As Trump said during a speech at the White House, the company heads decided to establish a joint venture that will invest at least £84 billion, and in the long term up to £420 billion over four years in building data centres in America and contribute to creating 100,000 jobs.
