French consortium to bid for EU's AI datacentre fund
France's AION Consortium Seeks Major EU AI Infrastructure Funding
(Fixes incorrectly spelled name from Guillochet to Gaillochet in paragraph 4)
By Forrest Crellin and Leo Marchandon
Overview of the AION Consortium's Ambitions
PARIS, May 20 (Reuters) - The AION consortium, which groups some of France's biggest tech and infrastructure companies, will seek EU funding for an expected €10 billion ($11.60 billion) data centre it plans to build in France.
EU's Push for AI Infrastructure
To try to close the gap between Europe and the United States and China, which have invested heavily in high-capacity data centres, the European Union's executive in December launched a €20 billion fund to boost investment in AI infrastructure.
Key Members of the Consortium
The AION consortium, formed last year to respond to EU efforts to become more internationally competitive on AI, comprises tech companies Artefact, Bull and Capgemini, telecoms Orange and Iliad including its data centre arm Scaleway, private equity firm Ardian, and French utility EDF.
Financing and Investment Structure
Projected Costs and Funding Sources
Ardian's head of infrastructure investment Benoît Gaillochet said the French project alone could cost the equivalent of half of the EU's new fund.
He said he expected funding from a combination of private investors, including Ardian, and bank lending, as well as EU fund money.
Iliad and Scaleway's Commitment
Iliad said it was ready to deploy €4 billion, notably through its datacentre arm Scaleway.
Technical and Operational Plans
Data Centre Capacity Goals
Scaleway CEO Damien Lucas said the ultimate aim was for the data centre to have a gigawatt of capacity, effectively doubling France's computing capacity, and that the initial phase would probably be around 100 megawatts.
EDF's Role in Infrastructure Development
EDF said last year that it was opening calls for tenders for several of its old industrial sites with direct grid connections so data centre operators can speed up the time needed to get linked up to power supplies.
Currency Exchange Rate
($1 = 0.8623 euros)
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin in Paris and Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham)