2024-05-13 15:54:34
“Long live Microsoft, long live the Republic and long live France! » Thus Emmanuel Macron concluded, to loud applause, his speech at Microsoft France headquarters, Monday May 13. The CEO of the multinational, Brad Smith, was also present for this presidential visit to Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine). It took place as part of the 7th Choose France summit.
Accomplices on the stage, the two men celebrated a record investment by the American giant in France, made public the evening before: 4 billion euros in “data centers” on French soil. “We are entering a totally different world where the competition will be fierce, and this competition can only be won if we have trusted partners. You are one of the latter”launched Emmanuel Macron to the CEO of Microsoft.
This world ” totally different “it is that of galloping digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI): a ” revolution ” which France intends not to miss. However, AI means massive data storage, since an algorithmic model can only work after having been trained on very large amounts of computer data. This storage is carried out in servers stored in glass cabinets, themselves installed in huge hangars where a buzzing sound as loud as it is incessant resonates: the data centers.
The primary argument, carbon-free energy
In this regard, the United States is a land of choice: the country hosted 2,701 of these centers at the end of 2022, far ahead of Germany (487), the United Kingdom (456) and China (443). France is in eighth position with 264 data centers, a third of which are in Île-de-France. Marseille is also home to a significant part of it: this coastal city is in fact an arrival point for submarine cables where data circulates from one side of the Mediterranean to the other.
It is precisely in the Paris and Marseille regions that Microsoft has promised to expand its existing data centers. The company should also build a new one near Mulhouse. Like other major cloud and AI players, Microsoft must have data centers in Europe to comply with the Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The first argument invoked by its CEO to justify the choice of France is its nuclear fleet, as he declared to AFP. Digital technology generates more than 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Ademe, and a quarter is attributable to data centers alone, which are extremely energy-intensive. Using carbon-free energy allows the giants of the sector to green their image.
“But at the administrative and fiscal level, France has long been less attractive than Ireland, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands, recalls Clément Marquet, teacher-researcher in sociology at Mines Paris PSL. The problem is that some of these countries are now saturated with data centers: in Ireland, for example, 18% of the electricity produced is used to run them. »
What are the repercussions?
Is the installation of centers belonging to the American Microsoft – but also Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has also made announcements in this direction – good news for France? ” Of course ! » for Anne Bouverot, co-president of the AI commission which recently submitted a report to the Elysée recommending massive investment in the sector (1). “We want French investments, of course, but today the biggest players in the cloud are American. However, it is entirely possible – and we hope – that Microsoft will allow French companies to train their models in its data centers. »
As for the benefits in terms of employment, they are difficult to quantify, explains sociologist Clément Marquet. “In any case, there is nothing to confirm that these job creations offset the cost of data centers in terms of electricity consumed and land used. » In the small town of Wissout (Essonne), the extension of such a center on behalf of AWS faces significant local opposition, mainly for ecological reasons.
(1) His conclusions have just been brought together in a book co-authored with Philippe Aghion: AI. Our ambition for FranceOdile Jacob, 19,90 €, 280 p.
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