Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has long championed the idea of “sovereign AI,” the notion that countries should develop AI systems that reflect their unique language, culture, and knowledge. Over the past week, he embarked on a European tour, visiting London, Paris, and Berlin, where he unveiled a series of projects and alliances aimed at addressing Europe’s lagging AI infrastructure and reducing its dependence on US tech giants, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a £1 billion investment to boost national computing power, emphasising the UK’s ambition to become a creator, not just a consumer, of AI. In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron spoke passionately about AI infrastructure as part of a “fight for sovereignty” at the VivaTech conference. This growing political momentum highlights Europe’s desire to regain control of its technological future.
In Berlin, Huang formalised a partnership with Deutsche Telekom to build Europe’s first industrial AI cloud using 10,000 Nvidia GPUs, set to begin operations by 2026. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the project, calling it a cornerstone for digital sovereignty and economic resilience.
Meanwhile, France’s homegrown startup Mistral is joining Nvidia to build a domestic AI “gigafactory” equipped with 18,000 of the latest chips. The European Union has also earmarked €20 billion for four similar facilities, an ambitious plan intended to narrow the gap with the US and China in AI infrastructure.
Despite the excitement, challenges remain. Europe faces high electricity costs and lacks the scale of US hyperscalers, with data centres already accounting for around 3 percent of its energy use. Still, Europe’s growing push for sovereign AI, led by political backing and strategic partnerships, marks a significant effort to build independent technology capacity rooted in local culture and expertise
