Along with fellow US behemoth Amazon, Microsoft announced on Sunday that it will invest four billion euros in the development of data centers in France.
The announcements were made the night before the eighth Choose France Summit, which is intended to draw in international investment to France. Near Paris, at the Chateau of Versailles, Macron will host the event.
According to Microsoft President Brad Smith, the company has made its largest investment in France since its debut forty-one years ago with this move to fortify its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
According to Smith, the decision was justified by France’s “longstanding commitment to carbon-free energy markets” and its standing as a “critical leader” in Europe.
A new data centre will be created in eastern France, while existing sites in the Paris region and the southern city of Marseille will be expanded.
E-commerce behemoth Amazon will invest more than 1.2 billion euros in France, creating more than 3,000 jobs, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said earlier on Sunday.
The money will help develop Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) cloud infrastructure, mainly generative artificial intelligence, and the logistical infrastructure of its parcel delivery service, a statement added.
Amazon recently stated that it did not want to make any comments in advance of a potential announcement that would be made at the event, so it did not respond to AFP’s attempts on Sunday.
By the end of the year, the US company’s workforce in France would have increased to 24,000, primarily in its logistics centers, with the announcement of the creation of 2,000 more jobs in the nation in 2024.
One of the company’s most important subsidiaries, AWS, generated $25 billion in revenue globally in the first quarter by taking advantage of the increasing demand for remote computing and AI services among enterprises.
As Choose France prepared to get under way, several pharmaceutical groups, including US group Pfizer and Britain’s AstraZeneca, announced on Sunday commitments to invest more than a billion euros more in France’s health sector.
The largest industrial project announced so far is a potential fertiliser factory, which could significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
European consortium FertigHy is to announce it is looking at investing 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) into a factory in the Somme region in northern France, Industry Minister Roland Lescure told France’s La Tribune Dimanche newspaper.
