Europe is advancing its artificial intelligence infrastructure through a major investment of nearly €388 million in a new supercomputing system managed by French state-owned firm Bull. This project aims to narrow the computational gap with global leaders in AI, notably the United States and China.
The new contract is Bull's largest to date. The company, recently separated from its parent firm Atos following a €404 million deal with the French government, has been chosen by EuroHPC to build LUMI-AI. This supercomputer will complement the existing LUMI system at Finland’s supercomputing hub and is expected to be operational by late 2027.
Funding for LUMI-AI is shared equally between EuroHPC and a consortium called LUMI AI Factory, which includes contributions from Finland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, and Poland. The collaborative effort underscores Europe's strategic push towards a resilient AI research infrastructure.
This initiative is part of EuroHPC’s broader vision, which involves a total budget of €8.2 billion allocated between 2021 and 2027. The plan includes establishing 19 AI factory centers and deploying 12 supercomputers, among them Germany’s advanced Jupiter system. Future expansions may add seven more sites, reflecting Europe’s growing ambitions in high-performance computing.
LUMI-AI is designed for dual use, supporting extensive AI training, inference, and scientific simulations. It will be powered by AMD chips, a competitive player against Nvidia in AI hardware. The system will also incorporate storage from IBM and networking technology from Nokia.
European supercomputing capabilities are already being tested through various initiatives. OVHcloud, Europe’s largest cloud provider, recently trained a foundational AI model on the Jupiter supercomputer. Additionally, Italian startup Domyn has accessed EuroHPC’s resources to develop its own AI model, targeting 400 billion parameters—a pipeline of future European AI contenders alongside other players like Mistral.
This expansion underscores Europe’s commitment to reducing dependence on foreign technology while fostering innovation. The development of LUMI-AI promises to significantly enhance research, efficiency, and competitiveness in the global AI landscape. With these investments, Europe's position in AI technology and research is set to strengthen, indicating a promising future for the continent’s digital ambitions.
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