UAE To Invest Up To €50 Billion in Major AI Data Centre in France

France and the United Arab Emirates announced a partnership on Thursday to develop a 1-gigawatt data center in France dedicated to artificial intelligence technologies.

According to France 24, President Emmanuel Macron said the new AI campus—part of a larger agreement he reached with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Paris—”represents investments of 30 to 50 billion euros” and will become the largest AI data center in Europe.

The new data center will store data and produce the large amounts of energy required to develop the advanced technology.

The announcement was made just days before the upcoming Summit for Action on AI, on February 10 and 11, where global leaders will gather in Paris to discuss the impact of AI in society. France and the European Union will face American and Chinese leaders in the industry.

The new agreement between France and the UAE is expected to help both nations stay on top of AI developments. According to Reuters, the governments said the investments will be made in French and Emirati AI and will include talent development, the acquisition of advanced AI chips, cloud infrastructures, virtual data embassies, and data centers.

France also announced that they have already identified 35 locations where they could host the AI data centers.

“The two leaders expressed their desire to create a strategic partnership in the field of AI and committed to exploring collaborations on projects and investments supporting the development of the AI value chain,” was written in a Franco-Emirati public statement according to Reuters.

The European Commission recently published guidelines to educate stakeholders on best practices and prohibited uses of AI, as defined by the European Union’s AI Act, expected to be discussed at the Summit.

France and the UAE are not the only countries building new centers for AI technology. The United States, along with other companies including OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, announced a $500 billion project to build infrastructure for developing advanced AI technologies in the United States.