Bull Supercharges European AI Power with Expanded Factory

Bull, Europe's leading producer of supercomputers, has significantly expanded its factory in Angers, France, effectively doubling its production capacity for these advanced machines. This strategic move is designed to bolster Europe's artificial intelligence computing power and address a perceived compute gap with global leaders like the United States and China.

The European Union has allocated €7 billion through 2027 to establish a network of supercomputers, with Bull's Angers facility being the sole European factory dedicated to their construction. This expansion is vital to achieving that objective. Bull's Chief Executive Emmanuel Le Roux reported a record number of orders this year, winning 15 out of 18 tenders from EuroHPC, the EU's co-funding body.

The €80 million expansion has already doubled the factory's output to 12 racks per month, with the potential to reach 24 racks monthly if demand necessitates. Notable orders include France's supercomputer, comprising 94 racks, and Finland's LUMI-AI system, Bull's largest contract to date. Previously, these large-scale projects could not have been manufactured concurrently.

France's acquisition of Bull from Atos for up to €404 million was driven by strategic imperatives, harkening back to the 1980s when France sought domestic supercomputer capabilities for nuclear simulations. The Angers factory assembles systems utilizing processors from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, with an increasing emphasis on European components, which now constitute 70% of the machines, up from 20-30% five years ago.