France ramps up supercomputer production to meet AI demand

Bull, France’s state-owned maker of Europe’s fastest supercomputers, reopened an expanded factory on Thursday to double its production capacity, as Europe bolsters its AI computing capacity. The upgrade boosts monthly output from six racks to 12, with potential to reach 24 next year if demand continues. This aligns with the EU’s efforts to reduce reliance on U.S. and Chinese suppliers in high-performance computing.

The European Union has committed €7 billion over 2021–2027 to a network of supercomputers, aiming to close a compute gap with the United States and China. Bull’s plant in Angers, France, is the only factory in Europe dedicated to building these machines, and its expansion supports that goal. The company has won 15 of the 18 tenders issued by EuroHPC, the EU body that co-funds Europe’s supercomputer network with member states.

Order volumes have surged this year. Emmanuel Le Roux, Bull’s CEO, said the company has received more orders than ever before, including a €554 million deal for Alice Recoque, a supercomputer for France’s nuclear research agency, the CEA. Deliveries will begin later this year in stages, alongside LUMI-AI, Finland’s €388 million system—the company’s largest contract to date. The two orders could not have been built simultaneously before the expansion.

Bull’s systems integrate processors from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, or European-made components, depending on customer needs. European parts now account for 70% of its builds, up from 20–30% five years ago. Under a June partnership, Bull and Taiwan’s Foxconn will manufacture Nvidia’s NVL systems at a Czech plant, with final assembly in Angers.

The expansion follows Bull’s acquisition from Atos in March for up to €404 million. The deal revived a heritage dating to the 1980s, when U.S. export restrictions blocked the CEA from buying American supercomputers, forcing France to develop its own. Today, Bull’s technology, including JUPITER, Europe’s first exascale machine at Germany’s Jülich Research Center, supports the continent’s AI infrastructure.

The €80 million upgrade was critical to meeting current demand. Before the expansion, Bull could not simultaneously fulfill France’s Alice Recoque order and Finland’s LUMI-AI contract. With doubled capacity, the company now supports EuroHPC’s goals, including deploying additional high-performance systems across member states.