NVIDIA just landed a massive $1.15 billion partnership with Deutsche Telekom to build an AI factory in Europe, marking the chip giant's biggest infrastructure play on the continent. The deal positions both companies at the center of Europe's AI sovereignty push while giving NVIDIA another major customer for its data center chips.
NVIDIA is doubling down on Europe with a game-changing $1.15 billion partnership that could reshape the continent's AI landscape. The chip giant announced it's teaming up with Deutsche Telekom to build what they're calling an "AI factory" - a massive data center complex designed specifically for training and running large language models.
The timing couldn't be more strategic. European regulators have been pushing for AI sovereignty, wanting homegrown alternatives to US-dominated cloud infrastructure. This partnership gives Deutsche Telekom the firepower to compete directly with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure on European soil.
For NVIDIA, this represents more than just another customer - it's a foothold in a market that's been increasingly wary of American tech dominance. The deal likely involves thousands of H100 and upcoming Blackwell chips, potentially making Deutsche Telekom one of NVIDIA's largest European customers.
The partnership comes as European companies are scrambling to build AI capabilities without relying entirely on US providers. SAP has been pushing its own AI initiatives, while startups like Mistral AI have raised hundreds of millions to build European alternatives to OpenAI.
Deutsche Telekom isn't just playing catch-up here - they're making a bold bet that European businesses will pay premium prices for locally-hosted AI services. The German telecom giant has been quietly building its cloud capabilities, and this NVIDIA partnership instantly catapults them into the AI infrastructure big leagues.
The $1.15 billion figure puts this deal in rarified air. It's comparable to some of the largest cloud infrastructure investments we've seen, suggesting the AI factory will span multiple data centers across Europe. Industry sources expect the first facilities to come online within 18 months, though neither company has confirmed specific timelines.
What makes this particularly interesting is the regulatory backdrop. European data protection laws have made many companies hesitant to use US-based AI services for sensitive workloads. A European AI factory addresses those concerns while potentially offering lower latency for European customers.
