Bull and Schwarz Digits have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a joint offering dedicated to cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI). This preliminary agreement lays the groundwork for a cooperation that remains to be formalized. The move is part of the search for European digital sovereignty.
The two companies aim to offer European organizations, particularly in sensitive and regulated sectors, solutions that allow them to maintain control of their data, infrastructure, and operations within a European legal framework. The partnership covers the entire technology chain, from servers to software platforms.
The alliance is based on complementary expertise. Schwarz Digits will provide its sovereign cloud infrastructure STACKIT, while Bull will contribute its expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), AI, and server design. Together, the two players aim to build a European technological infrastructure capable of meeting the growing computing and AI needs of businesses.
Potential production in Angers
Beyond cloud services, the alliance includes an industrial component. Bull could mobilize its production site in Angers to manufacture AI-dedicated systems, designed at the rack scale. The manufacturer intends to leverage its European industrial capabilities to support the development of next-generation infrastructure.
Bull is also banking on its expertise in direct liquid cooling (DLC, for direct liquid cooling). These systems allow for better management of the heat generated by IT equipment while reducing the energy needs of data centers, a major challenge at a time when AI applications require ever-increasing computing power.
The partnership also includes the integration of the BullSequana AI platform into the Stackit marketplace. This distribution is intended to facilitate access for businesses and public organizations to AI infrastructure and software developed within a European legal framework. The two groups intend to promote an open and modular software environment, in order to offer an alternative to the dominant market platforms.
“European organizations, especially in strategic and regulated sectors, cannot afford to choose between performance and data sovereignty,” emphasizes Bernie Wagner, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Schwarz Digits. He mentions the creation of a Franco-German foundation for enterprise AI, based on the Stackit cloud environment.
Projects beyond AI
The two partners are considering extending their cooperation to other areas of IT infrastructure. They notably plan to jointly design servers based on the standards of the Open Compute Project (OCP), which promotes open hardware architectures for data centers.
Other avenues are being considered, including the integration of SAP RISE, the execution of large-scale high-performance computing projects, and the exploration of synergies around quantum computing. For Emmanuel Le Roux, CEO of Bull, this alliance should help strengthen European capabilities in AI infrastructure. The executive insists on the complementarity between the manufacturer’s expertise and Stackit’s cloud resources, with the goal of supporting companies in their AI projects and the modernization of their information systems.
