SAP and a group of European and global partners today launched the Industrial AI Cloud project – a significant milestone towards realizing the vision of an industrial AI cloud made in Europe. At the heart of this initiative, SAP works closely with companies such as Deutsche Telekom, NVIDIA, Siemens, Deutsche Bank, Perplexity, PhysicsX and Agile Robots.
Together, the project partners want to shape Europe’s digital future and advance the application of advanced AI technologies in European industry. It starts with an investment of around one billion euros by Deutsche Telekom and NVIDIA. Supported by the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization, the initiative is intended to make Germany a European hotspot for artificial intelligence.
The goal is to ensure European companies have access to secure and sovereign computing resources, promote innovation processes and use the potential of industrial AI responsibly, in partnership and in accordance with European standards – based on Europe’s comprehensive corporate data.
Sovereignty. Not isolation.
Digital sovereignty has become a key issue in Europe and beyond over the past nine months, not least due to geopolitical developments, tariffs and cross-border data access issues. While some actors, such as the European Union, are calling for the development of their own infrastructures, others are taking a broader approach. The Industrial AI Cloud project aims to bring these perspectives together and strengthen digital sovereignty and innovative strength in Germany and Europe through trusting partnerships and the use of state-of-the-art technologies, with full control over proprietary data.
At a joint press conference in Berlin, the partners presented their plans for the Industrial AI Cloud, which aims to simplify the integration of AI solutions into business processes and overcome the fragmentation that has so far limited Europe’s success in the field of artificial intelligence.
Phase one
In the first phase, NVIDIA graphics processors (GPUs) will be installed in a Deutsche Telekom data center in Munich by the first quarter of 2026. This will allow companies of all sizes in Germany and Europe to use powerful AI services in the future.
While Deutsche Telekom provides the physical infrastructure, SAP provides the technological basis. To achieve this, SAP provides the SAP Business Technology Platform and a comprehensive suite of applications accelerated using advanced AI and simulation technologies, including solutions from NVIDIA.
Together, the partners create a secure and powerful digital platform for companies, public institutions and regulated industries such as defense.
The ultra-modern AI data center is also one of the first lighthouse projects of the “Made 4 Germany” initiative, which brings together more than 100 German companies and aims to strengthen Germany as a business location and accelerate digitalization in business and administration.
Collaboration as the key to success
As SAP CEO Christian Klein points out, the demand for digital sovereignty is growing rapidly in an increasingly regulated and complex environment where technology companies are competing for leadership in the generative and agent-based AI market.
According to SAP estimates, the AI market in Europe will reach a volume of over 20 billion euros by 2030 and require more than 22 gigawatts of data center capacity. According to Klein, this can only be achieved through close cooperation and partnerships: “We do not achieve digital sovereignty through isolation, but by bringing the best technologies to Europe together with strong partners and at the same time maintaining control over our data.” In the global AI race, Europe must set its own agenda and take a leadership role in industrial AI.
Lay the foundation
Projects like the Industrial AI Cloud, says Klein, lay the foundation for this ambition. Building infrastructure and data centers is only the first step; The actual economic added value arises when AI is used productively and deeply integrated into business and administrative processes. “Only when AI is understood not as an isolated technology but as an integral part of operational processes can it develop its potential to rethink business models, significantly increase productivity and accelerate innovation,” says Klein.
Prerequisites for success
Germany and Europe have a strong industrial base, extensive expertise and a wealth of industrial data. In order to turn this opportunity into tangible progress, politics and business must coordinate their efforts, create clear framework conditions and make targeted investments in education, research and secure, interoperable infrastructure.
The Industrial AI Cloud enables the seamless integration of AI solutions into companies, thereby closing the gap in the previously fragmented European AI landscape. It combines freedom of choice and scalability and meets the growing demand for secure European AI solutions.
The vision goes beyond the project: thanks to AI, a digitally sovereign Europe that offers modern, user-centered services for citizens, administration and business will be more efficient and innovative than ever before.
