French AI Firm Mistral to Invest Billions in Data Center Ahead of Global AI Summit

Mistral, a French AI firm, said on Sunday that it will invest "several billion euros" in the construction of its first data center in the nation.

With control over storage and processing power, a crucial edge in the technological race, French artificial intelligence (AI) company Mistral said on Sunday that it will invest "several billion euros" in the construction of its first data center in the nation.

In an interview with broadcaster TF1, Mistral co-founder Arthur Mensch made the revelation only hours before the start of a global AI event in Paris that is expected to attract executives from the tech sector and government.

Mensch, 32, estimated that the investment would be in the region of several billion euros. The company wants to control the whole value chain, from the computer to the software, he added.

France has promoted itself as the perfect location for a data center ahead of the summit, relying on its ability to draw in investors with a mix of shovel-ready locations and low-carbon power from its network of nuclear plants.

On Thursday, the Canadian investment group Brookfield promised 20 billion euros ($20.6 billion) for many centers, while the United Arab Emirates promised to construct a data center on an AI campus valued at up to $50 billion.