France will soon host a huge data center dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), a project supported by the United Arab Emirates and announced by the Elysée Palace during the World Summit on AI, which is currently being held Paris. This data center, whose computation power could reach a gigawatt, will be in a “campus” dedicated to AI, presented as the largest in Europe.

The investment, estimated between “30 and 50 billion euros”, follows from a partnership agreement signed in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Émirati Mohamed Ben Zayed al-Nahyane. The project will be led by a “Franco-Emiratis champions consortium”, including the MGX investment fund, supported by the Emirates. The precise location of the campus remains to be determined.

At the same time, the French Minister in charge of AI, Clara Chappaz, revealed that 35 “loan to employment” sites are already identified to accommodate future data centers in France. These infrastructure will cover approximately 1,200 hectares, with an announcement of their location scheduled for the start of next week.

The AI ​​Summit, co-chaired by France and India, started at the Ecole Polytechnique with two days of round tables before continuing with sessions dedicated to AI and culture during the weekend. Diplomatic discussions scheduled for Monday and Tuesday are expected to lead to “a declaration of desire for shared progress”, according to Anne Bouverot, special envoy of the French president for the event.

A hundred countries are represented at this high-level meeting, marked by the presence of the American vice-president JD Vance, of the Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Guoqing, as well as the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Chancellor German Olaf Scholz.

Find all our information on AI

However, uncertainties persist on the arrival of Elon Musk and Liang Wenfeng, founder of the Chinese start-up Deepseek, with which the Elysée is still in “discussions”.