Schwarz Digits and Bull announced a memorandum of understanding on 3 November 2026 to develop AI computing services under European jurisdiction, with servers planned around Bull’s manufacturing capacity in Angers, France, Bull said in a release issued from Paris and Berlin. The planned service would give organisations a route to use computing infrastructure and AI software through Schwarz Digits’ STACKIT cloud platform.
Key points
- The agreement covers joint server design, Bull manufacturing and delivery through Schwarz Digits’ STACKIT cloud business.
- Financial terms were not disclosed, Reuters reported.
- Bull doubled production capacity at its Angers supercomputer plant in October.
- Bull says the partners intend to bring its BullSequana AI software to the STACKIT Marketplace.
STACKIT would deliver the joint service
The memorandum is a preliminary agreement, and its financial terms were not disclosed, Reuters reported. Schwarz Digits, the technology division of Lidl owner Schwarz Group, would offer the service through STACKIT, its business for renting computing power and data storage over the internet. Bull, a French state-owned supercomputer maker, would handle manufacturing.
The companies plan to design servers for the data centres together. STACKIT customers, including companies and public bodies, would also be able to use Bull software to build and run AI applications on the service. The partners could eventually offer business software from Germany’s SAP through the arrangement.
Bull says it intends to put its BullSequana AI platform on the STACKIT Marketplace, giving enterprise and public-sector customers access through Schwarz Digits’ cloud environment. The company describes the planned offering as a way for organisations in regulated and strategic sectors to keep sensitive data, infrastructure and operations under European jurisdiction.
Schwarz Digits supplies digital infrastructure and services to Schwarz Group companies as well as external customers, according to Bull’s announcement. The proposed service would pair that cloud operation with Bull’s hardware manufacturing and software. Its scope therefore extends beyond renting server capacity to the tools customers would use to deploy AI applications.
Bull’s Angers factory anchors server plans
Bull doubled production capacity in October at its Angers plant, which Reuters described as Europe’s only facility dedicated to building supercomputers. AI Affairs previously reported on the Angers expansion after Bull’s French state takeover. The factory is the manufacturing site Bull identifies for servers developed under the new arrangement.
Bull says the proposed servers would draw on its capacity to manufacture rack-scale AI systems at Angers and its experience with direct liquid cooling. The partners intend to design server systems based on Open Compute Project standards. Bull also lists large-scale high-performance computing projects among the work it expects the collaboration to cover.
Emmanuel Le Roux, Bull’s chief executive, said the companies aim to give European organisations computing capabilities they can deploy and control. Bernie Wagner, Schwarz Digits’ chief revenue officer, said the partnership is directed at organisations in strategic and regulated industries that need both computing performance and control over their data.
SAP RISE and Cohere widen Schwarz’s AI activity
Bull says SAP RISE integration is among the steps envisaged for the collaboration. It describes quantum computing integration as a subject for exploration. Those plans sit alongside the initial proposal to place Bull’s AI software on STACKIT and the companies’ intention to develop servers together.
Schwarz Group is also leading a C$7 billion funding round for Canadian AI company Cohere, Reuters reported. AI Affairs previously covered the initial close of Cohere’s Series E. Cohere is expanding in Europe through acquisitions of German AI company Aleph Alpha and Czech-based cybersecurity company Aisle.
Bull puts its revenue at about €720m and says it employs 3,000 people across 32 countries. Its stated activities span hardware, software and services for high-performance computing and AI.
