Microsoft joined US giant Amazon in supporting France’s digital infrastructure on Sunday by announcing an investment of four billion euros towards the construction of data centers in the country.
Aiming to draw in foreign investment, the announcements were made the night before the seventh Choose France Summit. At the Chateau of Versailles, which is close to Paris, Macron will host it.
The tech giant’s largest investment in France since its arrival 41 years ago, according to Microsoft President Brad Smith, is the company’s decision to fortify its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Smith attributed the decision to France’s “longstanding commitment to carbon-free energy markets” and its standing as a “critical leader” in the European Union.
While current locations in the Paris region and the southern city of Marseille will be expanded, a new data center will be built in eastern France.
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, will invest more than 1.2 billion euros in France, generating over 3,000 jobs, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier on Sunday.
According to a statement, the funds will be used to develop the logistical infrastructure of Amazon Web Services (AWS) parcel delivery service as well as the cloud infrastructure, primarily generative artificial intelligence.
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 approaches 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 new jobs in the country 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 computer and AI services among enterprises.
AstraZeneca, a British company, and Pfizer, a US group, announced on Sunday that they would invest an additional one billion euros in France’s health sector, just as Choose France was about to begin.
A possible factory producing fertilizer is the biggest industrial project that has been announced to date. It has the potential to drastically lower carbon dioxide emissions.
Industry Minister Roland Lescure told the French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche that the European consortium FertigHy is due to announce that it is considering investing 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in a factory located in the northern Somme region of France.
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