SoftBank says it will invest up to €75 billion to build French data centers

软银宣布将投资高达 750 亿欧元在法国建设数据中心

SoftBank Group announced today that it plans to spend up to €75 billion (around $87 billion) to expand data center capacity in France. The goal, the firm said, is to develop and operate up to 5 gigawatts of additional data center capacity. 软银集团今日宣布，计划斥资高达 750 亿欧元（约合 870 亿美元）用于扩大其在法国的数据中心容量。该公司表示，其目标是开发并运营总计 5 吉瓦（GW）的额外数据中心容量。

The first phase of the plan involves building data centers in Dunkirk (Loon-Plage), Bosquel, and Bouchain to deliver 3.1 gigawatts of capacity to the Hauts-de-France region by 2031. SoftBank, which is both an investor in and customer of OpenAI, says this will be its largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe. 该计划的第一阶段包括在敦刻尔克（Loon-Plage）、博斯克（Bosquel）和布尚（Bouchain）建设数据中心，旨在到 2031 年为上法兰西大区（Hauts-de-France）提供 3.1 吉瓦的容量。作为 OpenAI 的投资者兼客户，软银表示这将是其在欧洲最大的一笔人工智能基础设施投资。

In a statement, French economic minister Roland Lescure described the announcement as a “testament to President Emmanuel Macron’s ambition to position France as a leading destination all along the AI value chain.” 法国经济部长罗兰·莱斯库尔（Roland Lescure）在一份声明中称，这一公告“证明了埃马纽埃尔·马克龙总统的雄心，即让法国成为人工智能全产业链的领先目的地。”

In the United States, opposition to data center construction is heating up over environmental concerns, as well as questions about how data centers affect the electrical grid and utility prices. Nonetheless, SoftBank earlier announced plans to build a data center in Ohio, powered by a new 9.2 gigawatt natural gas plant. 在美国，由于环境担忧以及对数据中心如何影响电网和公用事业价格的质疑，针对数据中心建设的反对声音日益高涨。尽管如此，软银此前已宣布计划在俄亥俄州建设一座数据中心，并由一座新建的 9.2 吉瓦天然气发电厂供电。