News

The vehicle will target startups across North America, Asia, and Europe to accelerate the commercial ecosystem for all-photonics networks

Japan’s largest telco, NTT, is preparing to create an investment fund worth roughly $500 million to support the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative and related AI development, according to reports from Yomiuri Shimbun.

South Korea’s SK Group, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom, and the Development Bank of Japan are reportedly partners in the ‘IOWN AI Fund’.

More than 10 additional Japanese corporations – spanning tech giants like Toshiba, Sony, and Fujitsu, alongside major financial institutions including MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho – have also expressed intent to participate.

The ‘IOWN AI Fund’, which will be set up by the end of the month, aims to expand IOWN’s growing ecosystem and the AI infrastructure supporting it. This will be achieved by targeting tech startups across North America, Asia, and Europe, focusing on photoelectric fusion, AI semiconductors, and the development of next-generation, IOWN-native AI models.

The concept of IOWN was introduced by NTT in 2019, with the central premise of shifting telco network topology from electronics to photonics (i.e., data transmission via light rather than electricity).

Currently, typical backbone networks carry optical signals over fibre but are forced to convert these photonic signals into electrical signals for processing. IOWN envisions an end-to-end optical network that would remove this translational bottleneck, delivering major benefits like lower power consumption, higher speeds, and larger capacity.

As generative AI data centres place unprecedented strain on global energy grids, it should be no surprise that the IOWN initiative is gaining momentum.

Indeed, IOWN is already beginning to show signs of moving from technical R&D to commercial scaling. In 2024 deployment by NTT and Chunghwa Telecom successfully activated a 3,000km subsea IOWN link between Japan and Taiwan, achieving a one-way latency of just 17 milliseconds.

By leveraging a formidable cross-border alliance of East Asian telecom, semiconductor, and financial giants, the IOWN AI fund is betting all-photonic network architecture will be a major alternative to traditional network strategy in the not-so-distant future.

How is AI supercharging the UK’s digital economy? Join the discussions at Connected Britain 2026

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News

The deal includes a pre-arranged $10 billion equity investment from Berkshire Hathaway

Today, Alphabet has announced it will raise $80 billion in equity, the company’s first stock offering in over 20 years.

The transaction includes a $30 billion underwritten stock offering, a $40 billion at-the-market share programme, and a $10 billion strategic investment from investment giant Berkshire Hathaway.

According to the filing, roughly half the proceeds will be used ‘for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures to scale AI infrastructure and global compute’. The rest will be used to meet tax obligations connected with the “vesting of employee equity awards”.

The document also notes the company’s predicted capex for the 2026 financial year to be $180–$190 billion, with expectations that 2027 capex will “significantly increase”.

The move represents a notable shift in strategy for Alphabet, which had only recently authorised a $70 billion share repurchase programme in April 2025. The issuing of new shares suggests that the company not only believes that the demand for connectivity and infrastructure will remain robust, but that ownership of the physical infrastructure that powers AI will be increasingly important.

Of course, Alphabet is not alone in seeking public funding for its AI infrastructure investments. SpaceX filed for an IPO late last month, claiming a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion largely based on a continued boom of AI integration in every aspect of our lives. Anthropic has now also followed suit, according to reports, with ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI expected to do likewise in the near future.

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World Communication Awards

For more than two decades, the World Communication Awards (WCAs) has set the global benchmark for excellence, innovation, and leadership across the telecoms industry. Recognised worldwide as one of the sector’s most prestigious honours, the WCAs celebrate the companies and individuals driving meaningful change and shaping the future of global communications. 

The WCAs is judged by an independent panel of more than 100 industry experts and every entry undergoes a rigorous review process to ensure the awards recognise genuine innovation, measurable impact, and outstanding achievements, 

From 5G, AI, cloud and cyber security to submarine networks, sustainability, crisis response, customer experience and beyond, there is a category for every part of the telecoms ecosystem. 

Think you could be a winner? Make sure you get started on your entry today! Enter all nominations before the deadline on Friday 19th June 2026. Top tip: you can part complete your entry and come back to it later. 

Winners from the World Communication Awards 2025

5G Award 

Winner: Singtel, in partnership with Ericsson, for Singtel 5G+ 

(Silver Award: KT, AICT Company)  

Access Innovation 

Winner: Ericsson and Telstra for the world’s first 5G triple-band FDD Massive MIMO 

(Silver Award: Rakuten Symphony, Rakuten Site Management’s Fiber Manager)  

AI Innovation 

Winner: Jio Platforms for JioBrain 

(Silver Award: Chunghwa Telecom) 

Best Digital Transformation Programme 

Winner: Ericsson and IOH for their Digital Monetization Platform 

(Silver Award: Jazz and Huawei) 

Best Network Evolution Initiative 

Winner: Colt Technology Services for their global Optical network 

(Silver Award: Telefónica Global Solutions) 

Best operator in a Growth Market 

Winner: Lumitel 

(Silver Awards: Smart Axiata) 

Best Wholesale Operator 

Winner: Orange Wholesale 

(Silver Award: Colt Technology Services, Wholesale SIP) 

Beyond Connectivity Award 

Winner: VEON for JazzCash 

(Silver Award: PT Telkomsel) 

Cloud Award 

Winner: Jio Platforms for its Cloud Platforms and Private MEC 

(Silver Award: Rakuten Symphony for Rakuten Cloud) 

Connected Communities Award 

Winner: Airband for its next generation Fixed Wireless Access 

(Silver Award: Fibrus) 

Crisis Response Award 

Winner: Palestine Telecommunications Company – Jawwal 

(Silver Award: Prima Limited, ICN1 Earthquake crisis response in Vanuatu) 

Cyber Security Award 

Winner: Jio Platforms for its Quantum-Safe Security Suite 

(Silver Award: Bridge Alliance and Aeris Communications, Aeris IoT WatchtowerTM) 

Enterprise Service of the Year 

Winner: China Broadcasting Network & AsiaInfo Technologies for their Smart Wind Farm private 5G network 

(Silver Award: Singtel, Singtel 5G+ Priority and Enterprise Mobile Protect) 

Future Award 

Winner: Singtel for its Quantum-Safe Network 

(Silver Award: Cohere Technologies) 

People and Culture Award 

Winner: Viettel Group 

(Silver Award: Deutsche Telekom – Europe Segment, DT Europe Talent Powerhouse) 

Platform Award 

Winner: Singtel for the Paragon Platform 

(Silver Award: Rakuten Symphony, Rakuten Cloud-Native Platform) 

Satellite Telecoms Award 

Winner: Telefonica Global Solutions 

(Silver Award: VEON and Kyivstar, Kyivstar/Starlink) 

Social Contribution Award 

Winner: Helium 

(Silver Award: Moldcell Foundation) 

Submarine Networks Award 

Winner: EllaLink 

(Silver Award: Telin) 

Sustainability Award 

Winner: Vodafone & Closing the Loop, One for One 

(Silver Award: KT, AI-based ES Orchestrator) 

Total Experience Award 

Winner: Sparkle 

(Silver Award: China Mobile (Guangdong) & Huawei, AI+BOSS) 

Next Gen Award 

Winner: Chiago Akpata – Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs at Bayobab 

(Silver Award: Sam Sham, RETN) 

Startup of the Year Award 

Winner: nodeQ 

(Silver Award: A5G Networks) 

The World Communication Awards 2026 are your opportunity to showcase your achievements on a global stage. Start your entry today! 

Press Release

Vodafone Business and Geely Technology Europe (GTEU), the European R&D organisation within Geely Auto Group, have extended their partnership to include Internet in the Car, Mobile Private Networks, and Cloud Connect solutions.

The Internet in the Car service from Vodafone Business supports capabilities such as diagnostics and over-the-air software updates, while Cloud Connect ensures secure data transfer between vehicles and cloud systems. This means Geely can monitor vehicle’s performance and support improvements to the driver experience.

In addition, Vodafone provides secure and reliable connectivity across Geely Technology Europe’s operations in Germany and Sweden, as well as with its pan-European sales teams.

GTEU plays a key role in developing the vehicle architectures, digital platforms, and intelligent systems. These provide customers with highly responsive integrated in-car internet and digital services such as dynamic electric vehicle (EV) charging planning and 3D lane guidance. Central to this is equipping vehicles with the latest software, data, and connected services.

Moving beyond simple transport solutions

Giovanni Lanfranchi, CEO at Geely Technology Europe, said: “We’ve moved beyond simple transport solutions. Today, vehicles can be continuously improved through software, with data and connectivity enabling a more responsive and personalised user experience over time.”

Vodafone Business’ vehicle services support GTEU in responding to customer insights, continuously enhancing its vehicles long after they leave the showroom. One example is Zeekr Navigation, where secure, always‑on connectivity enables instant in‑vehicle customer feedback. This shortens development cycles and improves GTEU’s ability to identify issues and deploy improvements rapidly.

Fanan Henriques, Vodafone Business Product and International Business Director of Vodafone Business, added: “As the adoption rate of electric vehicles continues to grow, the opportunities to enhance their safety, efficiency and the user experience through digital connectivity are significant.

“We’re supporting Geely’s growth in vehicle sales across Europe and its operations with a secure, multi-service digital infrastructure.”

98% of vehicles connected

Vodafone Business is providing solutions tailored to international cybersecurity, data protection, and regulatory compliance needs, while enabling Geely to scale rapidly across regions by leveraging Vodafone’s extensive global network. For example, Vodafone Internet in the Car service combines Vodafone’s global managed Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity platform, which currently has over 240 million connections worldwide, with local internet service providers.

By 2030, it’s expected that more than 98% of new passenger vehicles sold will be connected. Vodafone Business, working with Geely, is ready to help drive this expansion.

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News

“France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe,” says SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.

This week, SoftBank Group has announced plans to invest up to €75 billion to deploy 5 GW of AI-focused data centres in France.

Phase one of the project will see €45 billion building out 3.1 GW of AI data centre capacity at a variety of locations in northern France including Dunkirk, Bosquel, and Bouchain.

The first of these new locations is expected to be operational by 2031, with additional sites to be announced at a later date.

SoftBank Group will work with national energy company EDF and digital automation specialist Schneider Electric throughout the project.

“SoftBank is proud to make this major commitment to France,” said SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son. “With its industrial capabilities, talent base and national ambition, France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe.”

The French government praised the decision, similarly highlighting the favourable environment for data centre deployments.

“SoftBank’s decision to invest massively in AI datacenters in France – a first for the group in Europe – is testament to President Emmanuel Macron’s ambition to position France as a leading destination all along the AI value chain,” said Roland Lescure, Minister of Economy, Finance, & Industrial, Energy, & Digital Sovereignty. “ It reflects our country’s substantial assets: fast access to the most reliable electrical grid in Europe, a strong digital and industrial ecosystem with a skilled workforce, and a government that works in unison with local authorities and stakeholders to fast track procedures for strategic projects.”

France is quickly becoming something of a European champion for AI data centres, with major tech and telco consortium AION pledging to build an ‘AI gigafactory’ in the country just last month.

For SoftBank, on the other hand, this announcement comes as an addendum to its Stargate Project, which pledges to deploy $500 billion-worth of AI infrastructure in partnership with Open AI over the next four years.

As well as expanding its AI capacity, SoftBank is also digging deeper into the AI value chain. Last month, the company announced plans to build its own batteries to support its own AI data centres, suggesting that these batteries could eventually be sold to others.

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Press Release

When we watch videos on our phones, we expect them to load instantly and play smoothly – even in the busiest places or at peak times. But as demand for video continues to grow, mobile networks can sometimes come under pressure, leading to buffering or drops in quality.

Keeping videos smooth on the UK’s best mobile network 

That’s why we’ve introduced a range of tools across our industry-leading EE network to ensure seamless performance for customers – from capacity-boosting small cell mini-masts to our world-first implementation of Advanced RAN Coordination (ARC) technology. This helps improve everyday experiences like streaming video, scrolling social media and watching live content on the go. As part of BT, EE benefits from the scale, investment and innovation that enable us to keep the UK at the forefront of connectivity. 

Working together with Meta  

But it’s also important that we work with content providers to tackle this shared challenge, and so we’re delighted to announce the success of a recent pilot with Meta which makes watching videos on Facebook and Instagram more reliable for EE mobile customers, even during periods of high network demand.  

The pilot saw the two teams test a smarter approach to video delivery using new congestion awareness technology that adapts automatically during busy periods, easing potential pressure on the network while maintaining a highquality experience for customers. In simple terms, it helps reduce those frustrating moments where videos buffer or stall when networks are busy. 

The ambition is simple: to help more people enjoy a smooth viewing experience, while at the same time reducing impact on the network.

Smarter video delivery during busy moments 

Rather than delivering video in the same way regardless of conditions, Meta’s congestion awareness technology intelligently responds when parts of the network are under pressure. By making small, real–time adjustments when detecting high cell load during peak moments, it reduces the amount of data needed without noticeably affecting video quality. This helps ease potential congestion so more people can keep watching without interruptions, while making better use of available network capacity. It also supports a more consistent experience when using video apps in busy areas like city centres, transport hubs or large events. 

Proven results for EE customers 

The pilot delivered strong results, including a 6–8% bitrate reduction when congestion was identified and around a 4% reduction in traffic to congested cells – all while maintaining a high–quality experience for EE customers using Facebook and Instagram. That means fewer slowdowns and a more reliable video streaming experience on mobile data. With this success, the congestion awareness technology has now been rolled out across the EE network, and Meta will expand the solution to other markets and partners throughout 2026. 

This latest work builds on BT and Meta’s earlier collaboration to improve video performance for EE customers, further demonstrating how closer coordination between networks and platforms can support growing demand. As video continues to play a central role in everyday life, initiatives like this show how incremental innovation behind the scenes can deliver meaningful benefits for customers – while helping networks remain efficient into the future. 

News

The scale of the UK’s commercial fibre rollout means some target areas no longer warrant government support

Today, fibre network operator CityFibre and Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency have agreed to ‘re-scope’ the nine contracts the operator holds as part of Project Gigabit.

The decision, the companies say, comes “in response to the accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre across Project Gigabit areas”, meaning government subsidies are no longer necessary.

Officially launched in 2021, Project Gigabit promised £5 billion in government subsidies to help fibre network operators reach some of the UK’s hardest-to-reach premises.

In 2023, CityFibre won ten Project Gigabit contracts with subsidies totalling around £782 million. This funding, CityFibre said, would help the company to reach 1.3 million homes and businesses across rural or hard-to-reach areas.

Work related to each of the contracts was reportedly underway by the start of last year, with CityFibre saying it had reached 150,000 premises in the covered areas, 70,000 of which had made use of subsidies.

Now, following analysis of information gained from BDUK’s ongoing Open Market Review process, the partners agree that the scope of the contracts is too broad for today’s market conditions. As a result, the revised targets will see CityFibre aim for 450,000 rural or hard-to-reach premises by 2030, with 226,000 of these directly subsidised by Project Gigabit.

In addition, a £58.6 million contract covering Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire will be ‘returned’ to BDUK.

“We are immensely proud of CityFibre’s involvement in Project Gigabit, an ambitious programme that has helped unlock the benefits of full fibre infrastructure for households and businesses previously at risk of being left behind. BDUK’s commitment has helped spur further investment and continued innovation and the time is right to focus on where we will have the biggest impact as we establish the competitive digital infrastructure market the UK deserves,” said Simon Holden, CityFibre’s Chief Executive Officer.

The government was quick to take credit for facilitating the rapid rollout of fibre across the UK.

“Over the past 18 months, this government has delivered upgrades to more than 229,000 hard-to-reach premises across the country. Our reforms to the telecoms market have unlocked a surge in commercial broadband rollout, meaning many areas previously in scope for CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts will now be upgraded without cost to taxpayers,” said Liz Lloyd, Telecoms Minister.

The announcement notes that this revision “will not affect BDUK’s ability to achieve the UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032”.

Keep up to date with all the latest news with the Total Telecom newsletter

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ESPOO, FINLAND, May 26, 2026—Telia Finland and QMill have developed quantum-enhanced message encryption for mobile networks. QMill’s new encryption method is enabled by local or cloud quantum computers. Once completed, the method is designed to protect messages against attacks carried out using either classical or quantum resources.

”The security of our networks is becoming more crucial, especially for our mission-critical customers. In this first demonstration with QMill we focused on the most critical part of our network, but this method could be applied more widely and, in the long-term, it could potentially establish a new standard for encrypted communications,” says Jari Collin, Head of Customer Segment Defense, Telia Finland.

 “It is important that we were able to include Telia as a telecom operator in this phase. We will continue developing our quantum-enhanced security method with the objective of making it available as a standalone product, while also using it to complement other encryption methods by adding an additional layer of security,” says Hannu Kauppinen, CEO of QMill, which is a pioneering quantum algorithm and software company based in Finland.

The method has also been demonstrated to the Finnish Defense Forces. 

According to the C5 Division of the Defense Command Finland, “Encryption is a critical component of the Defense Forces’ information networks. It is important for us to monitor developments in both encryption and quantum technology, and to assess their impact on the systems used by the Defense Forces. Testing in collaboration with companies offers an interesting perspective on this.”

This demonstration complements Telia’s previous achievement of being the first commercial operator to successfully test quantum key distribution (QKD) in their network, done as part of Finland’s national quantum-secure network NaQCI.fi project. Quantum key distribution is based on transmitting quantum states. In the future, it could serve as one of the means of ensuring a high-level of security in dedicated infrastructure, as opposed to a standard mobile network, which was used in the latest demonstration.

In the future, Telia and QMill will expand the newly demonstrated point-to-point connection with quantum-enhanced security to a wide variety of use cases as part of their ongoing collaboration project.

_ _ _

About Telia
Telia is a technology company that provides telecommunications, IT and digital services to its millions of consumer and business customers as well as public administration. Telia has approximately 3300 employees in Finland, and our customers have nearly 4.4 million subscriptions in our various services. Safety is the starting point for everything we do. Telia strengthens its critical infrastructure by investing approximately EUR 200 million annually in Finland’s nationwide telecommunications networks and secure ICT services.

Telia Finland is part of Telia Company, which operates in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Telia Company’s revenue in 2024 was EUR 8 billion. The company is committed to achieving net zero emissions throughout its value chain by 2040.

Read more: www.telia.fi/medialle,  X: @teliafinland, LinkedIn: @Telia.

About QMill
QMill is a quantum‑algorithm and software company making quantum computing practical and accessible for real-world industrial use cases on existing and near‑term quantum computers. The company develops algorithms especially geared towards the NISQ era, supporting quantum researchers and developers as well as industrial sectors such as defense, energy, telecom, and transport. QMill is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. www.qmill.com

Contributed Article

by Pete Harvey, Senior Product Manager Subsea, Starboard Maritime Intelligence

When Starboard published Cable Risk Intelligence 2026 (Issue 1) in April, the Persian Gulf scored 4.6 out of 5.0 on our risk index, the highest of the 25 cable landing zones we assessed globally. At the time, that rating was grounded in a combination of geopolitical tension, high traffic density, constrained repair access, and documented vessel behaviour around cable routes in the region.

Since then, the situation has deteriorated further. Iran has explicitly threatened to sever submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the 2026 conflict, with state media circulating maps of Gulf undersea cable routes. At least 17 cable systems transit the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, carrying the majority of data traffic between Asia and Europe. Cable construction work across the Gulf has come to a standstill because repair ships can’t operate in active conflict zones.

The Persian Gulf rating was a forecast of the conditions that have now materialised.

The window of opportunity

Most operators find out a cable is at risk through a service degradation report from a customer, an optical monitoring alarm, or a repair dispatch. By the time any of those signals fire, the cable is already cut, and the repair window begins. Under normal conditions, that window averages 40 days for a deepwater fault. In a conflict zone there’s no definitive end.

The solution is to collate and analyse the risk data within the prevention window, giving operators a chance to intervene before a cable is struck.

Whether accidental or deliberate, every cable incident is preceded by vessel behaviour that is detectable before damage occurs. An anchor drag begins as a vessel drifting over a known route. A trawler working a protected zone slows to trawling speed before it makes contact. A vessel executing a deliberate act loiters, changes course without apparent purpose, or goes dark in a sensitive area. If you’re looking for them in the right way with the right tools, these patterns can be seen in the data before the fault event.

Early detection in practice

Starboard fuses AIS, satellite data, fibre sensing (DAS and SoP), and bathymetry into a single operational view, then applies behavioural models to flag when vessel activity near a cable route deviates from established patterns. The output is a prioritised alert with enough vessel data for a Marine Operations Centre or an operator to act.

In a New Zealand cable protection trial conducted with the New Zealand Government, commercial cable owners, and a marine operations centre, this approach generated 86 alerts, prompted 17 VHF vessel calls, and resulted in three vessels changing course, none of which required waiting for a fault signal.

When Starboard’s vessel risk alerts are integrated directly into a carrier’s NOC software, response time drops from 25 minutes to 3. The compressed timeline from signal to action is where damage is prevented.

Hormuz

The events of 2026 have clarified that ambiguity is itself a threat vector. When a vessel drags anchor over a cable, attribution is uncertain. When a sanctioned vessel transits a cable corridor slowly and without AIS, intent is unclear. When a cable is cut in or near a conflict zone, the line between accident and deliberate act is difficult to establish, and difficult to act on legally or operationally.

Starboard’s behavioural models are designed to provide information, clarity, and explanation that shed light on the challenges. They flag deviations from established traffic patterns even when AIS data is absent or inconsistent, and correlate vessel activity with known risk indicators to deliver an assessed picture rather than a raw data feed.

This is the operating environment the Submarine Networks EMEA and Subsea Security Summit communities are navigating in 2026. The technology to detect threatening behaviour before it causes damage exists today. The question is whether it’s integrated into the operational workflows of the teams who need it.

Read the full risk index

Cable Risk Intelligence 2026 (Issue 1) covers 25 cable landing zones across the Baltic, Red Sea, Taiwan Strait, North Sea, Persian Gulf, and trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific corridors. The interactive map and full methodology are available at starboardintelligence.com/learn/where-submarine-cables-are-most-at-risk-in-2026.

Starboard Maritime Intelligence provides maritime domain awareness that helps governments, defence agencies, and critical infrastructure operators detect risks, prevent threats, and build resilience in real time. Partners include Ciena, Tampnet, Alcatel Submarine Networks, Kordia, and Searisk.

Submarine Networks EMEA takes place in London tomorrow! Get your ticket and join the discussion today.

Find Starboard Maritime Intelligence at Stand 10 of the co-located Subsea Security Summit & Expo.

Press Release

In the coming years, the competitiveness of EU economies will directly depend on their ability to access massive computing power that is available, affordable and sovereign. The challenge is industrial, financial and strategic: enabling European companies to train, deploy and operate their AI models under controlled conditions in terms of performance, cost and sovereignty.

This is precisely the aim of the project put forward by the AION consortium.

Mobilizing French excellence to build world-leading AI infrastructure

In response to the rapid adoption of AI and the explosion in demand for computing power, AION brings together all of the critical skills required for creating new-generation European infrastructure.

The consortium leverages the complementary strengths of a wide spectrum of benchmark players covering the entire value chain: supercomputers, microprocessors, quantum computing solutions and critical infrastructure, expertise in energy, cloud platforms, sovereign AI and the development and operation of datacenter infrastructure, as well as AI deployment capabilities, investment capacity and industrial know-how.

AION will also be able to draw on a broad ecosystem made up of technological, academic and industrial partners, as well as user companies such as Le Crédit Agricole, Equans, Future4Care, GENCI, Hugging Face, INRIA, Kyutai, LightOn, Multiverse Computing, Nokia, Opcore, Quandela, PariSanté Campus, Schneider Electric, SiPearl, Sopra Steria, Verne, VSORA and ZML.

France – a strategic choice for hosting a European AI Gigafactory

France has unique strengths for hosting infrastructure of this magnitude. It has abundant, affordable, sovereign and low-carbon electricity thanks to its energy mix that is mainly made up of nuclear and hydraulic power, as well as robust digital infrastructure and recognized expertise across the whole value chain, particularly in data centers, cloud services and high-performance computing.

France has also established itself as one of the most dynamic AI ecosystems in Europe thanks to the quality of its research, the emergence of world-class tech players, and a dense pool of scientific and industrial talent. From research labs to start-ups, through to major end-user companies, it brings together the full range of skills needed to build a competitive AI industry on a European scale.

Hosting an AI Gigafactory would enable France to offer all the conditions for strengthening European tech sovereignty, accelerating AI adoption by private companies and public-sector players, and driving competitiveness and innovation.

An ambition built on four pillars

The AION consortium is based on four fundamental pillars:

• Performance: deploying world-class AI infrastructure to serve the European economy.
• Trust: reinforcing Europe’s strategic autonomy via complete control over the AI value chain – from hardware to open source software – thanks to the support of sovereign players.
• Openness: promoting the use of open source technologies, as well as partnerships to strengthen the European ecosystem.
• Responsibility: developing AI for the benefit of European research, businesses and citizens with a particular focus on containing its environmental footprint.

An open consortium to bring together the European ecosystem

The alliance announced today marks the starting point of a project aimed at bringing together all French and European players who are ready and willing to contribute to this shared industrial ambition.

“As an independent European player in data and AI, Artefact is uniquely positioned to observe the rapid growth in demand for computing power, as well as the lack of sufficient sovereign solutions. We’re technology-agnostic and our priority is to provide our customers with truly resilient solutions based on three dimensions of sovereignty: technology, operations and data. There’s no time for companies to wait – the infrastructure of the future needs to be built today. By joining the AION consortium, Artefact will be able to deploy the most ambitious AI use cases for its customers, within a fully sovereign framework, ensuring freedom, security and resilience.” Vincent Luciani, Executive President of Artefact

“It’s time to build a European AI ecosystem together, based on world-class European infrastructure and underpinned by France’s outstanding low-carbon energy capabilities. United by this ambition, we’re delighted to be teaming up with our friends at the iliad Group and the Orange group to join and steer the AION consortium, which will also be supported by other major industrial and tech players. Alongside our partners, we’re proud to be putting our industrial and financial expertise to the service of developing sustainable and resilient AI computing capacity on a large scale.” Benoît Gaillochet, Head of Infrastructure Europe at Ardian

“This initiative is particularly important for Bull in its capacity as the only player capable of guaranteeing a mostly European supply chain for AI, cloud and supercomputer infrastructure. We see AION as a natural extension of our strategic pathway, bringing additional computing capabilities dedicated to simulation and AI, developing new AI-optimized hardware technologies, and deploying our software platform and data science services to enable the production of industrial AI use cases. Through AION, we’re reaffirming our commitment to strengthening Europe’s ability to develop and operate next-generation AI and cloud infrastructure, while laying the foundations for a more resilient, competitive and independent technology ecosystem.” Emmanuel Le Roux, CEO of Bull

“Europe has everything it takes to write one of the most inspiring chapters of the AI revolution: excellence in research, industrial champions, low-carbon energy and values based on the trust and sovereignty of the European system. What was missing was the ability to bring together these strengths based on a shared project that can rise to the challenges at stake. With AION, this goal is achievable. It’s a French venture, led collectively, for the benefit of the whole of Europe. By joining this consortium, Capgemini is committing to put all of its experience and its global network to the service of a cause that is bigger than us all individually: building sovereign and sustainable AI infrastructure that is open to the entire European ecosystem. As a global leader in data and AI-powered business transformation, Capgemini has a specific responsibility in this project. Creating European AI gigafactories means offering our clients the possibility of using sovereign solutions by integrating the latest technological advances with no trade-off between performance and control. Technological sovereignty cannot be decreed – it has to be constructed, brick by brick, with the right partners. We are proud to be a part of this adventure.” Etienne Grass, Chief AI Officer at Capgemini Invent

“France has major strengths to lead the way in the development of AI infrastructure, including competitively-priced, sovereign and low-carbon electricity. With this consortium, we’re embracing a shared ambition to build a world-class European AI gigafactory based in France, and EDF intends to fully contribute to this strategic momentum for Europe.” Beatrice Bigois, Group Senior Executive Vice-President, Customers & Energy Services, at EDF

“In a world where computing capacity is becoming a lever of power, Europe cannot allow itself to depend on infrastructure designed, financed and operated elsewhere. With AION, our aim is to unite a range of leading players to build world-class European AI infrastructure based in France. AION has unprecedented technological clout, bringing together the very best of French and European digital, industrial and energy expertise, and the iliad Group intends to contribute fully to the project.” Thomas Reynaud, Chief Executive Officer of the iliad Group

“France has unique assets to shape the next chapter of European AI – front-ranking digital infrastructure, low-carbon energy, and one of the most dynamic research and innovation ecosystems in Europe. For Orange, joining the AION consortium reflects our strong conviction that Europe needs collective action to create a powerful, open and inclusive European AI to drive the continent’s competitiveness. With its sovereign cloud and trusted AI capabilities, Orange brings to this project what lies at the core of its identity: a trusted player that connects, secures and delivers sovereign digital services for companies, small businesses and individuals.” Christel Heydemann, CEO of the Orange Group

“I’m delighted that the AION initiative launched last year is continuing to gain traction and attract broad support. Within this richly diverse industrial alliance, Scaleway will focus on its core expertise of providing an open and interoperable sovereign cloud and AI platform serving businesses, researchers and public-sector players. I’m convinced that this project, which includes leaders across the entire value chain, will help consolidate the foundations of a European AI sector built on openness, control and trust.” Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway