Nvidia has teamed up with Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX to establish what they’re predicting will be Europe’s largest AI data center complex. The partners have also reached out to French firms with a goal of creating a 1.4 gigawatts capacity campus near Paris. The announcement was made at the Choose France Summit in Versailles in a joint statement with investment firm Bpifrance SACA and regional AI startup Mistral AI. On a related note, Cisco chose France as the location for one of its Global AI Hubs, planting a flag for the development of energy-efficient, AI-ready infrastructure.

The Parisienne Nvidia-MGX data facility, expected to begin operation in 2028, represents an €8.5 billion ($9.6 billion) investment, according to President Emmanuel Macron’s office.

The Register reports “the joint venture is to develop Europe’s first ‘purpose-built’ hub intended to support the entire AI lifecycle, from model training and inference to deployment of generative and applied AI systems.”

Bloomberg details how the Nvidia-MGX initiative “developed out of broader AI cooperation agreements established in February,” when United Arab Emirates leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with Macron. That meeting involved “Emirati plans to invest up to €50 billion ($56.4 billion) in French data centers,” Bloomberg reported at the time.

Other partners include Bouygues SA, the EDF Group energy outfit and the Ecole Polytechnique, a science and engineering university that has ties to the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi, according to Bloomberg.

The news follows Macron’s earlier announcement of €109 billion ($123 billion) in AI infrastructure investments as the country seeks to be more competitive with the U.S. and China. It fulfills a dual goal of UAE’s desire to accelerate its technological participation while diversifying its economy and with France’s aspiration to develop “AI sovereignty” in Europe.

MGX, which previously contributed funding to both OpenAI and xAI, is shaping up to be a major global tech player, having also helped bankroll President Trump’s $100 billion Stargate initiative.

A component of Cisco’s French expansion will be designating Paris as a center for expertise in innovative cooling, the company said in an announcement.

“Cisco also intends to increase its support for French startups working in areas such as AI, quantum computing, and digital infrastructure,” writes RCR Wireless News, noting that Mistral AI is a beneficiary of Cisco’s $1 billion AI investment fund.