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UAE to invest billions in France AI data centre: presidency

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (center L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (center R) pose alongside France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot (R) and CEO of Mubadala Investment Company Khaldoon Al Mubarak (L) after signing an agreement on AI during a ceremony as part of Zayed al-Nahyan's visit to France at the presidential Elysee palace in Paris, on February 6, 2025. Global experts will debate threats from artificial intelligence (AI) at a gathering in Paris on February 6-7, 2025, ahead of a summit of world leaders on the fast-moving technology. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)

By AFP

The French presidency on Thursday announced that the United Arab Emirates would invest billions of euros to build a huge artificial intelligence data centre in the country.

The centre will be the core of a new AI "campus" and will have up to a gigawatt of capacity, "which represents investments of 30 to 50 billion euros", the French presidency said in a statement.

It was part of a larger AI agreement signed between French President Emmanuel Macron and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Paris on Thursday.

AI data centres are slated to stock data and provide the enormous energy required for the new technology.

The campus will be the largest in Europe dedicated to AI, the presidency said.

The project was announced and signed as global experts began debating the threats and promise of artificial intelligence at a gathering in Paris on Thursday and Friday, ahead of a summit of world leaders on the fast-moving technology.

Thousands are expected at the Paris event, which aims to find common ground on a technology that has upset many business sectors in less than two years -- as well as to keep France and Europe on the map as credible contenders in the AI race.