Nvidia part of plans for mega 1.4 GW AI datacenter near Paris

Europe's largest AI datacenter campus is to be built near Paris in France, according to blueprints released by a joint venture formed by Nvidia, Mistral AI, the French national investment bank, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) investment fund MGX. The 1.4 GW beast was made public at the Choose France Summit held in Versailles …

[heyrick]

"The problem is that they [nuclear plants] are not located where we need them. In France, we need them in Paris and Marseille, and instead they are in the countryside, not exactly where we need them," he added.

They're out in the countryside so twonks like you don't have to figure out what to do with over two million scared and angry people that have to abandon everything and run should the unthinkable happen. Don't say "it won't", putting them out in open space is part of the planning for in case it ever does. What you need are lots of big chunky wires.

[Anonymous Coward]

don't have to figure out what to do with over two million scared and angry people

Just distribute the iodine tablets stockpiled by the local mairie(s) and sit tight.

[HuBo]

Right on! Paris is already overcrowded with cultural stuff (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, ...) it's best to decentralize France by siting computational infra away from that zone, its tourists, and its cafés, imho.

I'm glad "EDF will provide some piece of land they've got close to some nuclear plants [for] direct capacity" as that makes the most sense indeed. Same with the Alice Recoque exaflopper really, super dumb to plant it in Bruyères-le-Châtel (Paris), put it near Gravelines and Lille, on the high-speed Paris-Lille-Amsterdam train line I say (also Eurostar Paris-Lille-London).

Would've suggested the vicinity of (Old) Orléans in the scenic Loire Valley for this here 1.4 GW affair, but that's had a spectacular water shortage in 2022, which ginormous DCs could only exacerbate. But anywhere on the French shores of the English Channel should work, from Flamanville to Gravelines, where there's plenty of water. Maybe a spot North of Rouen, made (in)famous through Joan of Arc ... (cf. this here map).

In any instance, all of this should be waaay simpler than CERN's plan to ship antimatter throughout the Country and the World I think ... (hopefully, maybe?)

[Like a badger]

"I'm glad "EDF will provide some piece of land they've got close to some nuclear plants [for] direct capacity" as that makes the most sense indeed"

Perhaps near Penly near Dieppe. There's already a 2.7 GW station there, and early works started for an additional pair of EPR. Plenty of water, cooler climate than southern options, looks to be low value farmland all around, and stuff all local demand that I can see on the map. Roughly equi-distant from Paris, Brussels and London as well.

Of course, if France goes big on AI and DCs, then there will be less export capacity, even allowing for new build. That would be really bad news for the UK, Ireland and Italy, whose flawed energy policies rely on imports mostly from France. So does Germany, but not to the same extent (leccy imports 2% of German demand, 9%.of UK demand, 11% of Irish demand, 18% of Italian demand).

[DaveLS]

Alternatively, why not build the data centres close to the power plants and run some fibres into Paris and Marseille? Several hundred Tbit/s and latency ~10 ms wouldn't be difficult to implement (cheaper than chunky wires or urban nukes), and the users wouldn't notice — unless some PHB insists on "physical presence in t'data factory". Even then, some might like to move to work outside the cities.

[cyberdemon]

"Say something nice"

*splutter*

You owe me a new keyboard for that one! Well done

[b0llchit]

Plenty of power in the city

There is plenty of power in Paris.

Just create some 1.4 GW rolling blackouts in the city to power your marvellous heater near the city. Make sure to use some extra power for large fans to blow the hot air over the city in winter. The Seine will provide all the water you need in summer and you can take it all because nobody cares about downstream anyway. Additionally, if you have some wetware left, you may heat the water to Louis Pasteur levels and everybody can swim in the Seine without being killed by the little bugger bugs.

Another Big Advantage of rolling coordinated blackouts in the city... It will be Continuous Blinkenlights Show for the tourists! What is not to like?