According to DCD, Nvidia and Deutsche Telecom have officially confirmed their massive industrial AI cloud project in Munich, Germany. The partnership will see Nvidia providing over 1,000 DGX B200 systems and RTX Pro servers equipped with up to 10,000 Blackwell GPUs. This represents a staggering 500 petaflops of compute power, though the specific benchmark isn’t clarified. The “several thousand square meter” facility will be repurposed and begin operations in the first quarter of 2026. Enterprise software giant SAP will provide its Business Technology Platform, while European data center operator Polarise will also participate. Already, around ten companies including Siemens, Agile Robots, Quantum Systems, and Perplexity have signed up to use the manufacturing-focused AI infrastructure.
What This Actually Means for European AI
Here’s the thing about that 500 petaflops number – it really matters what they’re measuring. If it’s FP64 performance, we’re talking about serious traditional supercomputing power. But if it’s FP8, which is more common for AI workloads, the actual double-precision performance would be significantly lower. Basically, they’re being a bit cagey about the real computational muscle here.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing – most AI training these days uses lower precision formats anyway. The real story is that Europe is getting its first dedicated industrial AI cloud at scale. We’re talking about 10,000 Blackwell GPUs concentrated in one facility specifically for manufacturing applications. That’s a huge statement about where Germany sees its industrial future heading.
Why Manufacturing is the Killer App
Look, everyone’s building AI clouds, but this one has a very specific purpose. They’re not trying to compete with general-purpose clouds like AWS or Azure. Instead, they’re going after Germany’s manufacturing backbone – think robotics, automation, quality control, and supply chain optimization. It’s a smart play when you consider Germany’s industrial heritage.
Siemens being an early adopter makes perfect sense. They’re deeply embedded in industrial automation and have been pushing digital twins and smart factories for years. Now they’ll have access to serious AI firepower without building it themselves. And Agile Robots using their own robots to install server racks? That’s some beautiful marketing synergy right there.
Where This Fits in Europe’s Data Center Landscape
Munich is actually Germany’s third-largest data center market behind Frankfurt and Berlin, according to DC Byte’s market analysis. But this project could change that ranking pretty quickly. Deutsche Telecom already manages 184 data centers with 390MW of capacity, so they know what they’re doing.
The timing is interesting too – Q1 2026 means we’re looking at about a year and a half before this thing goes live. That gives them plenty of time to onboard more customers and refine their offerings. And with Perplexity already signed up, it shows they’re attracting both traditional industrial players and AI-native startups.
So what’s the bottom line? Europe is finally getting a serious, specialized AI infrastructure play that could actually compete with what’s available in the US and China. Whether it delivers on that promise remains to be seen, but the pieces are certainly falling into place.
