SoftBank’s Son considers up to $100 billion investment in France, Bloomberg News reports

May 11 (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp founder Masayoshi Son is considering an investment of up to $100 billion in France, including a multibillion-dollar project to build AI infrastructure in the European nation, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

Companies have been channeling billions into data centres to power generative AI services. OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank announced in September last year plans for five U.S. AI data centres for the $500 billion Stargate project, a plan to build a nationwide advanced AI network.

Son has held talks about unveiling an ambitious French AI data center project with President Emmanuel Macron in the coming weeks, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Son’s plans might be announced during the Choose France Summit, it added.

Details of the project remain in flux, and the scope of the potential investment could change, Bloomberg said. 

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. SoftBank did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

SoftBank’s investments in AI also include over $30 ​billion in investments in OpenAI ​so ⁠far, for about an 11% stake, in a bid to emerge ⁠as ​a winner in the ​battle among developers of large language models.

Its other investments include the robotics business of ABB and digital ⁠infrastructure ​investment firm DigitalBridge.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Louise Heavens)