CRA & Bull’s Bid to Make Czechia an AI Industry Powerhouse – Energy Digital Magazine
Czechia has a claim to be the engine room of European industry.
For a country of just over 10 million, it punches well above its weight when it comes to manufacturing, engineering and energy projects in the EU.
In fact, according to the OECD Economic Survey of Czechia from last year, these industries account for around 33% of the nation’s economic output, far higher than the OECD average of around 27%.
It has a reputation as a regional leader in automobiles, semiconductors, batteries, nuclear technologies and much more, making it the obvious destination for the next generation of high-calibre industrial projects.
To that end, Czechia has made clear its desire to host a new AI gigafactory – a large facility designed to develop and train cutting-edge AI models.
French computing group Bull and Czech digital infrastructure operator České Radiokomunikace (CRA) signed a memorandum of understanding that could see them build what will be one of Europe’s largest AI computing sites.
An AI gigafactory is, in essence, a large data centre filled with advanced processors for training and running AI models. These facilities are not to be confused with plain old gigafactories, which are sophisticated EV battery manufacturing plants.
This proposed new AI gigafactory in Czechia will form part of the EU’s broader AI Gigafactories programme. In 2025, the European Commission earmarked roughly US$23bn to help finance such sites.
When the EU informally surveyed interest in the scheme, it received 77 proposals from 16 member states across a total of 60 sites.
As things stand, the tender will cover a maximum of seven facilities, so competition is heated.
Formal bids for the programme due on 12 November, with selection expected in early next year. The EU will require operations to begin within 18 months.
The CRA had been planning to bid even before it linked up with Bull, but this new partnership will strengthen that proposal considerably.
CRA leads the Czech consortium and says it operates eight data centres and its own fibre-optic backbone network.
It also already provides GPU capacity, referring to the graphics processing units that do most of the heavy lifting in AI workloads.
Radio Prague International has linked the bid to CRA’s Prague Gateway data centre project south of the capital, though the host site, final consortium structure and financing have not been settled.
Bull will contribute server design, software and more than 200 DataSentics AI engineers based in Prague and Brno.
Working with Foxconn, it says it could manufacture the computing servers in both the Czech Republic and France, with an ambition to fit European chips as they become available.
Bull also intends to reserve capacity for its own clients, making it both technology supplier and future tenant.
We want international and Czech companies, public administrations and researchers to be able to develop their own AI solutions here, helping the Czech Republic become a major centre for artificial intelligence in Europe.
Power is the central challenge for any facility of this kind, and Bull’s pitch leans on efficiency.
It points to direct liquid cooling, which carries heat away from processors with liquid piped close to the chips rather than relying only on chilled air.
It also cites workload-level energy monitoring, which tracks consumption job by job rather than across a whole building.
Its BullSequana AI platform, meanwhile, routes routine tasks to right-sized open models, meaning smaller systems that need less electricity than the largest ones.
Emmanuel Le Roux, CEO of Bull, sees the project in terms of both sustainability and sovereignty.
“It reflects the kind of AI we want to build in Europe: open, sustainable and sovereign to give organisations greater control over their technology and data,” he says.
Miloš Mastník, CEO of CRA, has high hopes for the project.
“Our ambition is to build an ecosystem in the Czech Republic that combines computing infrastructure with the development and practical use of artificial intelligence,” he explains.
Miloš’s ambition now has to survive a competitive evaluation against bids from across the bloc.
“We want international and Czech companies, public administrations and researchers to be able to develop their own AI solutions here, helping the Czech Republic become a major centre for artificial intelligence in Europe.”
CEO
CEO
Energy Magazine connects the leading oil & gas, energy, utlitilies and renewable energy executives of the world's largest energy and energy tech enterprises. Our platform serves as a digital hub for connecting energy industry leaders, covering a wide range of services including media and advertising, events, research reports, webinars, podcasts, demand generation, information, and data services. With our comprehensive approach, we strive to provide timely and valuable insights into best practices, fostering innovation and collaboration within the energy community. Join us today to shape the future for generations to come.
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This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
For a country of just over 10 million, it punches well above its weight when it comes to manufacturing, engineering and energy projects in the EU.
In fact, according to the OECD Economic Survey of Czechia from last year, these industries account for around 33% of the nation’s economic output, far higher than the OECD average of around 27%.
It has a reputation as a regional leader in automobiles, semiconductors, batteries, nuclear technologies and much more, making it the obvious destination for the next generation of high-calibre industrial projects.
To that end, Czechia has made clear its desire to host a new AI gigafactory – a large facility designed to develop and train cutting-edge AI models.
French computing group Bull and Czech digital infrastructure operator České Radiokomunikace (CRA) signed a memorandum of understanding that could see them build what will be one of Europe’s largest AI computing sites.
An AI gigafactory is, in essence, a large data centre filled with advanced processors for training and running AI models. These facilities are not to be confused with plain old gigafactories, which are sophisticated EV battery manufacturing plants.
This proposed new AI gigafactory in Czechia will form part of the EU’s broader AI Gigafactories programme. In 2025, the European Commission earmarked roughly US$23bn to help finance such sites.
When the EU informally surveyed interest in the scheme, it received 77 proposals from 16 member states across a total of 60 sites.
As things stand, the tender will cover a maximum of seven facilities, so competition is heated.
Formal bids for the programme due on 12 November, with selection expected in early next year. The EU will require operations to begin within 18 months.
The CRA had been planning to bid even before it linked up with Bull, but this new partnership will strengthen that proposal considerably.
CRA leads the Czech consortium and says it operates eight data centres and its own fibre-optic backbone network.
It also already provides GPU capacity, referring to the graphics processing units that do most of the heavy lifting in AI workloads.
Radio Prague International has linked the bid to CRA’s Prague Gateway data centre project south of the capital, though the host site, final consortium structure and financing have not been settled.
Bull will contribute server design, software and more than 200 DataSentics AI engineers based in Prague and Brno.
Working with Foxconn, it says it could manufacture the computing servers in both the Czech Republic and France, with an ambition to fit European chips as they become available.
Bull also intends to reserve capacity for its own clients, making it both technology supplier and future tenant.
We want international and Czech companies, public administrations and researchers to be able to develop their own AI solutions here, helping the Czech Republic become a major centre for artificial intelligence in Europe.
Power is the central challenge for any facility of this kind, and Bull’s pitch leans on efficiency.
It points to direct liquid cooling, which carries heat away from processors with liquid piped close to the chips rather than relying only on chilled air.
It also cites workload-level energy monitoring, which tracks consumption job by job rather than across a whole building.
Its BullSequana AI platform, meanwhile, routes routine tasks to right-sized open models, meaning smaller systems that need less electricity than the largest ones.
Emmanuel Le Roux, CEO of Bull, sees the project in terms of both sustainability and sovereignty.
“It reflects the kind of AI we want to build in Europe: open, sustainable and sovereign to give organisations greater control over their technology and data,” he says.
Miloš Mastník, CEO of CRA, has high hopes for the project.
“Our ambition is to build an ecosystem in the Czech Republic that combines computing infrastructure with the development and practical use of artificial intelligence,” he explains.
Miloš’s ambition now has to survive a competitive evaluation against bids from across the bloc.
“We want international and Czech companies, public administrations and researchers to be able to develop their own AI solutions here, helping the Czech Republic become a major centre for artificial intelligence in Europe.”
CEO
CEO
Energy Magazine connects the leading oil & gas, energy, utlitilies and renewable energy executives of the world's largest energy and energy tech enterprises. Our platform serves as a digital hub for connecting energy industry leaders, covering a wide range of services including media and advertising, events, research reports, webinars, podcasts, demand generation, information, and data services. With our comprehensive approach, we strive to provide timely and valuable insights into best practices, fostering innovation and collaboration within the energy community. Join us today to shape the future for generations to come.
source
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
