UAE Capital "Marches" into France! Joins Forces with NVIDIA to Build Europe's Largest AI Base

Nvidia and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX are collaborating with French enterprises to establish "Europe's largest AI campus" in France, aiming to advance the ambitions of France and the UAE in the technology sector.

On Monday (May 19) local time, MGX announced on its official website that at the "Choose France" summit in Paris, Bpifrance (the French national investment bank), MGX, French AI startup Mistral AI, and Nvidia will form a joint venture.

The press release stated that the venture will establish Europe's largest AI campus, located in the Île-de-France region where Paris is situated, with an expected final capacity of 1.4 gigawatts. MGX said the project originated from the AI Action Summit held in Paris in February this year, where the presidents of the two countries reached a broad AI cooperation agreement.

Earlier, Caixin mentioned that during the February meeting, the UAE and France agreed to build a 1-gigawatt AI data center, along with a series of projects including chips and talent development, with an investment scale of up to 50 billion euros (approximately $56.4 billion).

On the eve of the Paris AI Action Summit, Macron also announced on social media that France's AI industry would receive 109 billion euros in investment.

However, it should be noted that MGX did not disclose specific funding details in its latest statement. According to French media, the initial investment in the AI campus is 8.5 billion euros, with construction scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026 and the first phase to become operational in 2028.

MGX stated that the partners in the campus project also include French telecom group Bouygues SA, the EDF Group, École Polytechnique, French power grid operator RTE, and French fiber infrastructure operator Sipartech.

The press release wrote that the planned Paris AI campus marks a significant step for the entire European continent towards the goal of establishing "autonomous, sustainable, and globally competitive AI infrastructure."

Media analysis suggests that this agreement reflects the UAE's strategy to promote economic diversification and expand its international influence, while also aligning with France's goal of advancing "AI sovereignty" to counterbalance the technological power of other countries.

It is worth mentioning that MGX is also one of the funding institutions for the US "Stargate" AI infrastructure plan. Just last week, during Trump's visit to the Middle East, the UAE and the US jointly announced plans to build the largest AI infrastructure cluster outside the US mainland.