India, France turn to cutting-edge diplomacy to win AI infrastructure bets

As countries race to gain a foothold in the AI revolution, French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are increasingly relying on diplomacy to attract the world’s biggest tech companies and accelerate investment in AI infrastructure.

Both leaders have stepped up their outreach this year to top technology executives seeking commitments to large-scale investment, AI data centers and broader ecosystem development. Their hands-on involvement has set France and India apart from many other countries competing to build the infrastructure needed to support the next wave of AI innovation.

Macron hosted top AI executives during June’s G7 summit and convinced SoftBank’s founder and CEO Son of Masayoshi to support a multi-billion dollar AI data center initiative in France.

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Meanwhile, Modi met Amazon CEO Andy Jassy last week and welcomed the company’s record investment commitment of $48 billion in India, including $21 billion earmarked for AI and cloud infrastructure.

Over the past year, Modi has also held talks with the chairman and CEO of Microsoft Satya NadellaGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, both of whom expressed support for expanding India’s AI capabilities and digital infrastructure.

In May, SoftBank announced plans to develop 3.1 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in France by 2031 as part of a wider €75 billion program to create 5 GW of AI infrastructure.

According to CNBCSon revealed that Macron personally requested a meeting two months before the announcement to convince SoftBank to go ahead with the investment. The two leaders continued discussions via text messages while finalizing the proposal.

Son said Macron highlighted France’s abundant electricity supply – much of it generated through nuclear power – and assured SoftBank that the government would support a 3GW project instead of the 2GW originally proposed, making the investment more attractive.

“His team, the government team is very supportive,” Son said. “His team and our team work very well together.

India’s AI ambitions

Modi also brought together top US technology executives at the Global AI Summit in India earlier this year, leading to investment commitments worth hundreds of billions of dollars for the country’s expanding AI ecosystem.

“India sees no fear in AI. India sees happiness in AI. India sees the future in AI,” Modi said in his opening remarks at the summit in February.

He urged global technology leaders to deliver “Design and Develop in India” to the world.

Building partnerships and raising capital for AI development has become a central pillar of the government’s technology strategy. While India has made rapid progress in digital infrastructure, it is still not producing high-end semiconductor chips domestically or developing a basic AI model comparable to those created in the United States or China.

To bridge this gap, the government is encouraging global technology companies to invest in AI, cloud computing and semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure across the country.

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Ahead of the summit, Microsoft announced its largest investment in Asia to boost India’s sovereign AI capabilities, while Google unveiled a $15 billion investment plan to set up its largest AI center outside the United States. To further attract hyperscale data center operators, the government has introduced long-term tax incentives for companies investing in AI infrastructure.

New Delhi is also promoting domestic semiconductor manufacturing to reduce dependence on imported technology.

During Modi’s visit to the Netherlands in May, Dutch chip maker ASML agreed to provide advanced lithography systems and related solutions for a 300mm semiconductor fab being developed by Tata Electronics. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who met Modi in December last year, also agreed to become a potential customer for chips manufactured by Tata Electronics.

Despite these initiatives, India remains heavily dependent on overseas AI models and advanced computing hardware, leaving its AI ambitions subject to export restrictions and technology controls from other countries.