Frankfurt am Main, June 11, 2025 – Today marks the official announcementof the first Sovereign AI Factory in Frankfurt, a pioneering initiative tailored to be the first purpose-build AI Factory for the financial sector and designed to set a new standard for how artificial intelligence is developed and deployed in Europe. This flagship project not only serves the German and international finance industry but also lays a scalable foundation for future expansion into the mobility and healthcare sectors.
AI Factory Frankfurt enables European banks and financial institutions to leverage cutting-edge AI computing infrastructure—at scale, securely, and without compromise on regulatory requirements. Built on NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform, the initiative reduces traditional adoption barriers by addressing critical concerns around data sovereignty, data security, and coststructure, while simultaneously driving energy efficiency through the use ofhighly optimized, next-generation compute systems. In addition, the initiative gives financial institutions access to NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, a state-of-the-art AI compute platform designed to train and run the world’s most advanced AI models, providing maximum performance at scale.
The idea and concept for this initiative has been under development for several years driven by a consortium consisting of Business InitiativeFrankfurtRheinMain, an association of around 150 corporations and institutions located in the Frankfurt region, and AI Factory Management in collaboration with NVIDIA. The initiative was completed when AI infrastructure developer Polarise, an NVIDIA DGX AI Compute Systems Partner and NVIDIA Cloud Partner, joined in early 2025. Polarise will invest to build and host the new AI Factory.
“By aligning the latest high-performance AI technology from NVIDIA with the required regulatory and ethical frameworks, the Sovereign AI Factory provides a blueprint for Europe’s digital sovereignty,” said Michel Boutouil, CEO of Polarise. “This is not just a technological leap—it’s a strategic shift in how we in Europe approach AI and our own data responsibly.”
"European industries need secure, scalable environments to developand deploy AI that meets the region’s strict regulatory and data sovereignty requirements," said Dr. Jochen Papenbrock, EMEA Head of Financial Technology at NVIDIA. "Powered by advanced NVIDIA accelerated computing, AI Factory Frankfurt provides exactly that - a professional platform where financial institutions and innovators can safely build, test, and scale agentic AI workflows for industrial production.”
“The Sovereign AI Factory also positions Frankfurt as a magnet for AI startups, and scaleups and SMEs, offering them an environment to develop, test, and deploy AI products locally, and in compliance with European values, data protection laws and standards. This creates an attractive ecosystem for innovation and accelerates time-to-market for AI-driven solutions,” said Andreas Lukic, Managing Director AI Factory Management.
With the finance industry as its launchpad, the Sovereign AI Factory sets the stage for similar facilities across Europe in mobility and healthcare - sectors where regulatory alignment and data sensitivity are equally critical.
“Frankfurt with the largest Internet hub in Europe and leading financial and data center with a growing AI start-up ecosystem will take a major step into the Champions League of IT and AI. With the AI Factory Frankfurt together the establishment of an AI Center of Excellence, we can not only provide a 100% sovereign AI environment especially for the finance and pharma sector but also offer an optimum environment for all AI experts and firms,” said Jörg Schaub, Managing Director of the Business Initiative FrankfurtRheinMain.
About the Sovereign AI Factory Frankfurt
The AI Factory Frankfurt is a public-private initiative that brings together leading AI infrastructure providers, economic initiatives, financial institutions and startups to enable secure, sovereign, and scalable AI innovation. It represents a new model for how AI can be developed and deployed in Europe—responsibly, efficiently, and in full compliance with European law.
