Macron Reports that Choose France Summit 2026 Attracted More Than $100B in Investments
Reporting on the Choose France Summit 2026 on Monday, the 1st of June 2026, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the 9th edition of the investment event managed to mobilize a record USD 108 billion (€93B) in investment. For the 8th edition in 2025, total investments amounted to USD 23 billion (€20B). The investments cover 71 projects, from AI to Rare Earths, which are expected to create 15,600 jobs in France.
The top investment project is undoubtedly the EUR 45 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (#FDI) by Japan’s SoftBank in AI. In particular, SoftBank will finance a 3.1-GW AI data center in Hauts-de-France as a first step. If all goes well, SoftBank revealed that its investments in France might rise up to EUR 75. President Emmanuel Macron welcomed SoftBank’s Founder Masayoshi Son to the Presidential Palace of the Elysee to express his appreciation for Son’s choosing France.
Mr Son explained that France was chosen because it is a net exporter of electricity, of which #AI data centers are very hungry. On a related register, MGX is partnering with Mistral and AI to build its 2nd data center in France, after the first one in Fouju, in Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France.
Actually, France produces nearly 70% of its electricity from nuclear plants and the disruption of oil flows caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz did not impact it too severely. According to its 3rd Pluriannual Energy Program (PPE3) 2026-2035, France plans to generate up to 618 TWh in 2035, compared to 550 TWh in 2026, while favoring non-nuclear renewable energy sources in the energy mix.
American eCommerce giant, Amazon, announced a EUR 15 billion investment to build three logistics centers in France. The logistics hubs will be highly automated, but will nevertheless be able to generate up to 1,000 well-paid jobs.
Chocolate makers, Ferrero and Mars, will invest EUR 60 million and EUR 100 million to enhance their production capacity in France. Symrise will inject EUR 37 million to produce perfume and other cosmetic ingredients in France as a vote of confidence for the French luxury sector.
USA Rare Earth and Carester will invest up to EUR 175 million in projects to secure the supply chain for #CriticalMinerals and #RareEarths. Just before the Summit in May 2026, the French Government unveiled its National Plan for Rare Earth Resilience and endowed it with a fund of EUR 2 billion in support of its Critical Mineral Sovereignty.
Quobly announced an investment of EUR 115 million in a quantum computing project. Several space technology projects involving Airbus, Thales, CNES were also announced. Given the strong interest, France plans to host a specialized International Space Summit in September 2026 to deepen space cooperation.