During the VivaTech conference on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized his ambition to attract technology companies to establish semiconductor manufacturing in France. His comments coincided beautifully with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s own major announcements. Huang announced upcoming investments of 100 million euro to expand AI infrastructure across Europe.
Macron’s goal is to get as many companies as possible to set up manufacturing facilities in France. His ambition, bolstered by the CHIPS Act, is to make the nation the world’s leader in advanced chip production. He noted, “I want to convince them to make the manufacturing in France,” highlighting the importance of local production for the country’s technological sovereignty.
France, for its part, has become an essential element of Nvidia’s strategy for Europe. This news follows Nvidia’s recent announcement of a partnership with French generative AI model company Mistral to launch an “AI cloud.” Combined, this collaboration marks an impressive current and future commitment to developing France’s AI talent pool.
“We are deepening them and we are accelerating. And what Mistral AI and Nvidia announced this morning is a game-changer as well,” – Emmanuel Macron
To achieve its goals, France will likely require major semiconductor manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) or Samsung to establish factories within its borders. TSMC have already largely committed up to $40bn to construct additional fabs in the U.S. At the same time, Macron’s administration is hard at work trying to increase local production.
In addition to Nvidia’s initiatives, Macron revealed that France is exploring a partnership involving Thales, Radiall, and Taiwan’s Foxconn to set up a semiconductor assembly and testing facility. This decision is part of the wider efforts of France to develop the domestic semiconductor ecosystem and decrease reliance on international tech companies.
Macron’s administration has laid out ambitious plans for France’s semiconductor sector, aiming for the production of chips ranging from 2 nanometers to 10 nanometers. He shared that the French AI sector will receive 109 billion euros (approximately $125.6 billion). This wave of private investments is poised to occur in the coming months and years.
“If we want to consolidate our industry, we have now to get more and more of the chips at the right scale,” – Emmanuel Macron
Now France is taking stock of its dependence on foreign technology providers for essential infrastructure. The decision is in line with an overarching trend among European countries. Through the development of local manufacturing capacity, France hopes to position itself as a key tech hub in Europe.