Nvidia, UAE’s MGX plan to build Europe’s largest data center

Nvidia Corp. and Abu Dhabi investment vehicle MGX are partnering with French firms to establish what they say will be Europe’s largest artificial intelligence data center campus, advancing French and UAE ambitions in the field. 

The goal is to build a campus near Paris with a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts, the companies said Monday in a joint statement with French state-owned investment firm Bpifrance SACA and national AI champion Mistral AI. The announcement was made at the Choose France summit in Versailles.

The initiative developed out of broader AI cooperation agreements established in February, when UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited with French President Emmanuel Macron. Those discussions included Emirati plans to invest up to €50 billion ($56.4 billion) in French data centers, Bloomberg News reported at the time. 

Building on prior AI deals

The deal marries the UAE’s desire to diversify its economy and extend its political influence with France’s effort to develop so-called AI sovereignty in Europe. Macron had previously announced €109 billion of investments in AI infrastructure as part of a push to compete with the US and China. 

Other partners in the AI campus include conglomerate Bouygues SA, energy operator EDF Group, and science and engineering university Ecole Polytechnique, which also has a partnership with Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi. 

The data center campus represents an €8.5 billion investment and the first phase will be operational in 2028, according to a separate statement from Macron’s office. 

MGX has previously backed OpenAI and xAI, and is among entities helping bankroll US President Donald Trump’s $100 billion AI investment plan dubbed Stargate. It’s overseen by one of the world’s most influential dealmakers — Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — who also chairs G42, the Emirati tech conglomerate that will be building a 5-gigawatt data center in the UAE with OpenAI.