France announces $112.6B AI investment ahead of Paris summit

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- French President Emmanuel Macron announced a $112.6 billion investment in France's artificial intelligence sector before world leaders were set to gather for an AI conference in Paris on Monday.

France said it has received promises from the United Arab Emirates, American, and Canadian investment funds, along with French companies Iliad, Orange and defense group Thales to bolster AI in the "coming years," Macron said.

"We have to be in the race," Macron told local media. "We want to be part of it. We want to innovate. Otherwise, we'll be dependent on others."

The UAE has pledged nearly $31 billion for a data center and Brookfield, a Canadian investment firm, will contribute $20.64 billion more.

Macron told French broadcaster TFI the pledge was "the equivalent for France of what the United States announced with Stargate."

On Jan. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Oracle, Softbank and OpenAI would launch a joint venture to invest $500 billion in private funding to boost U.S. AI infrastructure.

The announcement comes ahead of France's global AI Action summit in Paris, which will welcome world and tech leaders.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend along with U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Tech heavyweights include Sam Altman, of OpenAI, Microsoft President Brad Smith, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.