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Salesforce has announced a $2 billion investment in France through to 2030, and selected Paris as the location for its first European AI Innovation Hub.
The new site will serve as a shared environment for partners and customers to carry out AI research, testing, and deployment, as well as a centre for AI skills development.
Salesforce said its Paris hub will build on the success of its London AI Centre, which it recently combined with its UK headquarters, and would help France to achieve its sovereign AI ambitions by enabling public and private sector collaboration.
Marc Benioff, chair and chief executive of Salesforce, said: “We are proud to deepen our commitment to France with this significant investment.
“France has become one of the world’s great centres of AI innovation, combining extraordinary research talent, entrepreneurial energy, and a strong commitment to trusted technology. We look forward to helping organisations across France and the region unlock a new level of agentic transformation.”
France is Salesforce’s fourth-largest market, and the firm has maintained a corporate presence in the country since 2005.
As part of the announcement, Salesforce also committed to opening an Agentic Academy in collaboration with the Simplon Foundation, an endowment fund that targets inclusion, ecological transition, and social justice through digital technology.
Supported by 160 Salesforce France staff, the academy has an initial goal of training 2,000 employees across 80 organisations in AI skills.
Salesforce will also provide $2.6 million in grants to local non-profit organisations – including career mentoring body Job IRL, youth educational and professional support group Article 1, and the cultural institution Forum des images – to support training in STEM, digital skills, AI and career readiness.
