The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Commission proposed it, the government is doing it. The executive takes up the idea of encouraging the establishment of data centers – or data centers – recommended by this body in its report submitted to Matignon on March 13. The measure was introduced in the bill on simplifying business life, which is expected to be examined in the Senate from June. The proposal was also presented during the presentation of the simplification plan in Bercy on April 24.
For the government, the development of AI in France involves increasing its computing capacity, necessary to train and operate models capable of generating text or images, in services such as ChatGPT, Gemini ( Google), etc. It is therefore necessary to increase the number of data centers whose computers are capable of carrying out these calculations.
“France is a net exporter of data, which means that we do not have the capacity, on our territory, for the storage and processing of our data”, we deplore in the office of the Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, Marina Ferrari. France hosts 250 data centers, compared to 2,109 in the United States, according to the AI Commission report.
“Projects of major national interest”
Gold “the deployment of data centers is, to date, not subject to any specific favorable framework, although it is essential to be able to secure their rapid implementation in the territory”, deplores Bercy in his “simplification plan”.
Concretely, the proposed measure opens the possibility of considering data centers as “projects of major national interest”, a favorable status created by the green industry law of 2023, with the aim of hastening projects linked to the transition energy. Designated centers “will thus benefit from measures to accelerate the implementation project”, explains Bercy.
The issuance of their building permit will be granted by the State, and no longer by the mayor of the municipality concerned. In addition, these projects will be entitled to a “accelerated compatibility, by the State, of local town planning documents and regional planning documents” and to “accelerated electrical connection procedures”. Finally, obtaining a “protected species” exemption, whose habitat can only be artificialized under certain conditions, will be made easier.
Which centers will be affected? Those “whose object or scope is of particular importance for the digital transition, the ecological transition or national sovereignty”, specifies the bill. They will be designated by means of a decree, by the government.
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