Bull and Schwarz Digits say they signed a memorandum of understanding on AI computing under European jurisdiction

Bull and Schwarz Digits said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to build an independent, secure European AI and cloud infrastructure ecosystem, according to their joint release. Reuters described it as a preliminary agreement to jointly develop AI computing services that would operate entirely under European jurisdiction. Reuters reported that financial terms were not disclosed, and the release gives none.

Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group, will contribute its cloud infrastructure through STACKIT, according to the release. Reuters said Schwarz Digits will offer the service through STACKIT, which rents out computing power and data storage over the internet, while Bull, which Reuters described as the state-owned French maker of Europe’s fastest supercomputers, will handle manufacturing.

The servers would draw on Bull’s European manufacturing capabilities for rack-scale AI production at its Angers factory, the release said, along with its expertise in direct liquid cooling. The partners plan to bring Bull’s BullSequana AI platform to the STACKIT Marketplace, giving enterprise and public-sector customers access to AI software platforms and solutions under European jurisdiction. Reuters said companies and public bodies using STACKIT will also be able to use Bull’s software for building and running AI applications directly on the service.

Bull and Schwarz Digits also intend to co-design server solutions based on Open Compute Project standards, the release said. It listed SAP RISE integration and large-scale high-performance computing projects among the milestones the collaboration will advance, and said the partners will explore collaboration on quantum computing integration. Reuters said the companies could eventually offer business software from SAP through the partnership.

The release did not give a timeline, capacity figures, data center locations or customers.

Bull CEO Emmanuel Le Roux said the companies “aim to give European organisations capabilities they can deploy and control.” Bernie Wagner, chief revenue officer of Schwarz Digits, said the alliance shows “Europe can deliver high-performance innovation entirely on its own terms.”

Reuters noted that Bull doubled production capacity in October at the only plant in Europe dedicated to building supercomputers. It also said Schwarz is leading a C$7 billion ($5 billion) funding round for Canadian AI lab Cohere, which is expanding in Europe through acquisitions of German AI startup Aleph Alpha and Czech-based cybersecurity firm Aisle. Cohere said on Oct. 29 that commitments to its Series E round included Schwarz Group as lead investor, AI Tech Daily reported.

Bull and Schwarz Digits say they signed a memorandum of understanding on AI computing under European jurisdiction

Sources