A Bloomberg report noted that the AI data center will be jointly funded by Nvidia and the German operator
In sum – what to know:
$1.2 billion joint investment – Nvidia and Deutsche Telekom will co-finance a large-scale AI data center in Germany to accelerate the country’s industrial and digital modernization.
SAP to anchor new facility – German software leader SAP will be a primary customer, signaling strong enterprise demand for AI compute and integration within Europe’s manufacturing sector.
Boost for Europe’s AI ecosystem – The project supports Germany’s goal of securing 100,000 GPUs and aligns with the EU’s $20B funding drive to close the AI infrastructure gap with the U.S. and China.
U.S. firm Nvidia and German carrier Deutsche Telekom are reportedly planning to build a €1 billion ($1.2 billion) data center in Germany as part of a broader initiative to expand AI infrastructure across Europe, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Both companies will jointly fund the project, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the plans. German software giant SAP will be a customer of the new facility, the report added.
The announcement is expected to take place at an event in Berlin next month. Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, SAP CEO Christian Klein, and German digital minister Karsten Wildberger are scheduled to attend the event.
Meawnhile, Reuters reported that Deutsche Telekom and Nvidia announced a partnership to create an artificial intelligence cloud for European manufacturers, to be hosted in Deutsche Telekom’s data centers in Germany.
Under the agreement, Nvidia will supply 10,000 GPUs to power the new cloud infrastructure, which is expected to be operational by 2026. The project aims to support Germany’s efforts to modernize its industrial base and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in AI.
The initiative forms part of the German government’s plan to boost large-scale data center construction, seen as vital to the country’s digital sovereignty. Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the collaboration after meeting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, calling such investments “central to our country’s innovative strength.”
Germany’s AI strategy includes state subsidies covering up to 35% of infrastructure costs, with the private sector expected to finance the rest. The country hopes to secure up to 100,000 GPUs for AI research and industrial deployment in the coming years.
At the European level, the European Commission has also committed $20 billion to support the construction of AI data centers and close the gap with the U.S. and China.
Deutsche Telekom, which recently joined SAP, Ionos, and Schwarz Group in a bid for EU funding to build a domestic AI center, said the partnership with Nvidia strengthens its leadership role in Europe’s digital transformation.
Nvidia is also collaborating with French AI company Mistral on a separate project to deploy 18,000 Nvidia GPUs for European businesses.