France’s Bull and Schwarz Digits, the IT division of Germany’s Schwarz Group, signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to build a sovereign European AI cloud and infrastructure stack, according to The Next Web. The companies announced their partnership at the German government’s 2026 Digital Summit in Berlin to help local organizations develop and scale computing safely.
Key takeaways
- Bull and Schwarz Digits signed an MoU at the German government’s 2026 Digital Summit in Berlin.
- The collaboration aims to keep sensitive data, infrastructure, and operations under European jurisdiction.
- Schwarz Digits contributes its STACKIT cloud while Bull brings high-performance computing expertise.
- Servers will be manufactured at Bull’s factory in Angers, France, using direct liquid cooling technology.
What is the European AI cloud project?
The new initiative targets regulated and strategic sectors by letting European organizations develop and scale enterprise computing while keeping sensitive data under local control. The Next Web reports that the collaboration spans from servers to software. Bernie Wagner, chief revenue officer of Schwarz Digits, stated that the project demonstrates Europe can deliver high-performance innovation on its own terms.
How do Schwarz Digits and Bull split the work?
Schwarz Digits, whose parent company owns supermarket chains Lidl and Kaufland, provides its STACKIT cloud. Meanwhile, Bull contributes its experience in large AI and high-performance computing projects. Bull builds its rack-scale AI systems at a factory in Angers, France, using direct liquid cooling technology. The company also builds the JUPITER supercomputer in Germany, which it calls Europe’s most powerful.
The partners plan to sell the BullSequana AI platform through the STACKIT Marketplace to enterprise and public-sector customers. Emmanuel Le Roux, chief executive of Bull, stated that the partnership reflects a commitment to a resilient and competitive European ecosystem. Beyond these initial steps, the two firms intend to co-design servers based on Open Compute Project standards, work on SAP RISE integration, and explore quantum computing.
What it means for European digital sovereignty
The announcement arrived a day after Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Germany and Europe must build their own AI more quickly. By keeping sensitive operations and infrastructure under European jurisdiction, the partnership aims to strengthen local resilience and competitiveness. Bull reports about €720m in revenue and 3,000 staff across 32 countries, supporting the regional ecosystem alongside the parent group of Lidl and Kaufland.
Frequently asked questions
France’s Bull and Schwarz Digits, which is the IT arm of Germany’s Schwarz Group, are teaming up to build the European AI and cloud infrastructure stack.
The two companies announced their memorandum of understanding at the German government’s 2026 Digital Summit held in Berlin.
Schwarz Digits contributes its STACKIT cloud to the partnership. Its parent group also owns the Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains.
The servers will be built at Bull’s factory located in Angers, France, which produces rack-scale AI systems using direct liquid cooling technology.
The companies plan to co-design servers using Open Compute Project standards, work on SAP RISE integration, handle large high-performance computing projects, and explore quantum computing integration.
Based on reporting by The Next Web. Read the original article
