SoftBank Group plans to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) to build 5 gigawatts of artificial intelligence data center capacity in France, saying the country is poised to become a top European hub for AI infrastructure.

The first phase comprises an initial €45 billion investment to deliver 3.1 GW of AI data center capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031, SoftBank said Saturday in a statement.

The commitment, which SoftBank called its biggest AI infrastructure investment in Europe, reflects personal diplomacy between Emmanuel Macron and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who met during the French president¡¯s visit to Japan this year.