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(AWP Alliance News) - SoftBank Corp will spend roughly EUR75 billion, or USD87.5 billion, on artificial intelligence infrastructure in France, its founder Masayoshi Son told a French newspaper in an interview released Saturday. The Tokyo-based technology investment firm has an 11% stake in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. 'This will be the largest investment in Europe in infrastructure related to artificial intelligence,' Son told La Tribune Dimanche weekly ahead of a French investment conference hosted by President Emmanuel Macron. He said it included EUR45 billion to be spent by 2031 on data centres in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Paris-based Schneider Electric SE will be a partner in the project, its Chief Executive Olivier Blum told AFP. 'This is a significant partnership, a major project, the largest ever undertaken in France' in the sector, said Blum. 'Up to now, there is roughly 1.5 gigawatts of installed data centre capacity in France at the end of 2025, and what's being announced now is that there will be an initial phase of 3.0 gigawatts followed by a second phase that could reach up to 5.0,' he added. The announcement is a major boost to Macron's efforts to attract hi-tech industries to France, in competition with other European nations. Macron is to host an international investment conference at Versailles palace from Monday. Son said his decision was made after meeting Macron during a visit to Tokyo in April and that France's status as an energy exporter had played a key role. Data centres are huge consumers of energy. 'The fact that the country is an energy producer and exporter is absolutely crucial for infrastructure investments in artificial intelligence, especially for data centres.' Son said he had also been impressed by Macron's 'strong personal commitment to ensuring France's economic success, even though our investments have so far been concentrated primarily in the US, and Japan and Asia'. Blum said that Schneider would take part in the design and supply of all the equipment with a factory to be built at the channel port of Dunkirk.  The first three data centres would be at Dunkirk and near the northern cities of Cambrai and Amiens, he added. France says it has 35 venues ready to provide enough energy and other infrastructure for data centres. Macron has repeatedly said that Europe must not let the US and China take an insurmountable lead in AI. Son said that 'catching up with the US, currently the global centre of gravity for innovation, is a challenge for most other countries'. Europe must, he added in the interview with Tribune, 'find the right path' to reach a 'balance' between innovation and regulation. Softbank shares closed 1.0% lower at JPY215.30 on Friday in Tokyo. Schneider Electric closed up 1.0% at EUR269.95 in Paris. source: AFP Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - China's factory activity was flat in May after two months of expansion, official data showed Sunday, as weaker demand and rising energy costs due to the Middle East war weighed on growth. The manufacturing purchasing manager's index registered 50.0 points in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The 50.0-point mark separates expansion from contraction. The reading was in line with consensus according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The figure slipped from 50.3 in April and 50.4 in March. The slowdown comes as the Middle East war, which has effectively halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas route, drives up global energy costs and pressures manufacturers. Chinese factories are facing higher costs with the prices of raw materials rising, particularly in the energy and chemical sectors. Both supply and demand in industries including petroleum, rubber and plastics showed 'continued weakness', said NBS statistician Huo Lihui. Overall business production and activity in the manufacturing sector remained stable, Huo said, adding that there was 'a slight slowdown in market demand' for new orders. China, the world's second-largest economy, has been struggling with a slowdown in domestic demand and investment in recent years that has been weighing on its vast manufacturing sector. Despite factory data edging lower, China's non-manufacturing PMI - a gauge of activity across services and construction - grew to 50.1 in May, up from 49.4 in April.  source: AFP Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(AWP Alliance News) - Nvidia Corp Chief Executive Jensen Huang is expected to visit South Korea next week, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Saturday, as the country rides a boom in artificial intelligence. The source, in South Korea's tech industry, who is not permitted to speak publicly, told AFP that Huang is due to arrive June 5 and attend a 'key event' in Seoul days later. The CEO of the semiconductor chip company is expected to meet with SK Hynix Inc, Hyundai Motor Co Ltd, LG Corp and Naver, to discuss so-called 'physical AI' applications such as robotics, local media including the Chosun Daily and MBC reported. His expected arrival will come after attending an AI conference in Taipei, local media reports said. A Nvidia spokesperson told AFP plans to travel to South Korea are 'undecided', without providing further detail. It comes as a global artificial intelligence boom drives strong demand for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix memory chips, helping support South Korea's economic growth and stock market rally. SK Hynix - the major supplier of high-bandwidth-memory products to Nvidia - topped USD1 trillion in market value for the first time on Wednesday, joining rivals Samsung and US-based Micron Technology Inc as an AI-driven rally lifted chip stocks. Huang previously made headlines after visiting South Korea for the APEC summit in the southern city of Gyeongju last year, where he announced Nvidia will supply 260,000 of its most cutting-edge chips to South Korea. During the visit Huang also travelled to Seoul where he drew crowds of spectators as he indulged in fried Korean chicken and beer or 'chimaek' with Samsung Chair Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Chair Chung Eui-sun. source: AFP Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.