Microsoft and Amazon to invest $5.6 billion into France as Macron courts tech giants

Microsoft and Amazon are ploughing billions of dollars into France.

Microsoft said in a statement Monday that it's committing 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) toward expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure in France, in addition to funding AI skilling and support for France's technology industry.

The company said it plans to invest bring up to 25,000 of the most advanced GPUs, or graphics processing units, to France by the end of 2025. Microsoft will also train 1 million people up and support 2,500 AI startups by 2027.

The announcement was made during the "Choose France" summit, a gathering dedicated to encouraging foreign investment in France.

“This major investment demonstrates a steadfast commitment to supporting digital innovation and economic growth in France,” said Microsoft's President Brad Smith in a statement Monday.

“We are building state-of-the-art Cloud and AI infrastructure, training people with AI skills, and supporting French startups as they use our technology with confidence to grow in a fair and responsible way.”

As part of its investment, Microsoft will also open a new data center in the French city of Mulhouse.

Amazon, meanwhile, made a commitment of its own to invest 1.2 billion euros in France.

The money will go toward creating more than 3,000 jobs in France — in addition to the 2,000 new jobs Amazon's already announced for 2024 — as well as broadly increasing Amazon's footprint in the country, according to Frederic Duval, Amazon's country manager.

"The expansion of our logistics network supports local economic development, creates quality jobs and allows us to reduce the carbon footprint of our deliveries while improving the overall customer experience," Duval said in a statement Monday.

Collectively, the