With less than a year left in office, Emmanuel Macron wants to be remembered as the French president who put Europe back in the technology race.
His decade-old ambition to turn France into a ¡°startup nation¡± never fully delivered. Now Macron sees a second chance by positioning France as Europe¡¯s artificial intelligence powerhouse, leveraging the nation¡¯s abundant supply of nuclear energy for data centers. He convinced SoftBank Group to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) in French projects.
His advisers have dubbed the AI effort ¡°Project Marengo,¡± a reference to Napoleon Bonaparte¡¯s victory over an Austrian army in 1800 at the battle of the same name, won through speed and decisive action. Marengo was also a political victory, securing Bonaparte¡¯s hold on power.
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