A major announcement from the Choose France summit in Versailles reveals that Nvidia and MGX, an Abu Dhabi investment firm, plan to construct Europe’s largest artificial intelligence data center.
The facility will be located near Paris. The ambitious project represents an €8.5 billion investment and will establish a campus with 1.4 gigawatt capacity.
The partnership brings together several key players including French state investment firm Bpifrance, local AI champion Mistral AI, conglomerate Bouygues, energy operator EDF Group, and École Polytechnique university.
This collaboration stems from broader AI cooperation agreements signed in February when UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited French President Emmanuel Macron.
The first phase of the massive data center campus will become operational by 2028. This development aligns perfectly with the UAE’s strategy to diversify beyond oil and expand its global technology influence.
UAE and Nvidia Join Forces to Build Europe’s Largest A.I. Data Center in France. (Photo Internet reproduction)
For France, the project advances Macron’s vision of European “AI sovereignty” and builds on his previously announced €109 billion AI infrastructure investment plan. MGX has already demonstrated its commitment to AI development through investments in Openai and xAI.
UAE’s G42 Expands Global AI Infrastructure
The Abu Dhabi firm also supports the $100 billion “Stargate” AI investment plan championed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the world’s most influential negotiators, oversees these strategic investments.
The UAE continues to position itself as a global AI powerhouse. G42, the Emirati technology conglomerate chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon, is already building a 5 gigawatt data center in the UAE with OpenAI.
This new French project further expands their growing AI infrastructure portfolio. For France, the data center represents a significant economic boost and strengthens its position in the competitive global AI landscape.
The project promises to create jobs, attract talent, and establish France as a European leader in AI infrastructure. The collaboration highlights how nations increasingly view AI infrastructure as critical to economic competitiveness and technological sovereignty.
As AI development accelerates globally, control of the underlying computing infrastructure becomes increasingly valuable in the international technology race.
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