White & Case Advises SoftBank Group on Investment to Build 5GW of AI Data Center Capacity in France
June 3, 2026
White & Case Advises SoftBank Group on Investment to Build 5GW of AI Data Center Capacity in France
Global law firm White & Case has advised SoftBank Group on a major investment initiative to develop 5 gigawatts of artificial intelligence data center capacity in France, marking one of the largest single-country data center buildouts in Europe. The project underscores the accelerating race among technology conglomerates to secure infrastructure for powering next-generation AI workloads.
SoftBank Group, the Japanese holding company known for its Vision Fund and investments in technology and telecommunications, is moving to establish a significant foothold in Europe’s rapidly expanding AI data center market. The 5GW capacity planned for France would represent a substantial portion of the country’s total data center power consumption and is expected to support hyperscale cloud and AI training operations. The initiative aligns with France’s national strategy to attract large-scale digital infrastructure investments, particularly in the AI and clean energy sectors.
White & Case, a leading international law firm with deep expertise in cross-border transactions and infrastructure projects, provided legal counsel to SoftBank throughout the structuring and negotiation phases. The firm’s involvement highlights the complexity of such large-scale energy-intensive developments, which require navigating French regulatory frameworks, grid connectivity agreements, and environmental compliance. The 5GW target is roughly equivalent to the output of several nuclear reactors, emphasizing the scale of energy and cooling resources needed for the facilities.
The investment is part of a broader trend where major tech players are committing billions of dollars to data center capacity worldwide, driven by surging demand from AI model training and inference. SoftBank’s move into France comes as European governments seek to balance digital sovereignty with the need for massive energy consumption. Industry analysts note that projects of this magnitude could reshape the competitive landscape for cloud and AI services in Europe, potentially lowering latency for regional users and attracting more AI startups to the French ecosystem.
The development also carries implications for sustainability, as France’s largely decarbonized electricity grid—powered predominantly by nuclear energy—offers a strategic advantage for AI data centers seeking to minimize carbon footprints. SoftBank’s commitment to 5GW of capacity signals confidence in France’s ability to provide reliable, low-carbon power at scale, a critical factor as regulators increasingly scrutinize the environmental impact of data center operations.
Source: whitecase
