Airbus (EU:AIR) has signed a multi-year agreement with Scaleway, the cloud computing subsidiary of Iliad, to provide cloud infrastructure for sensitive industrial and defence applications as the aerospace group strengthens its European digital sovereignty strategy.
The partnership will support the deployment of artificial intelligence solutions being developed alongside French AI company Mistral.
European cloud partnership supports AI deployment
Under the agreement, Scaleway will host a range of mission-critical applications covering aircraft design, engineering, manufacturing and corporate operations.
The announcement follows Airbus’ partnership with Mistral, unveiled in May, to jointly develop tailored AI tools for the aerospace and defence industries.
“The fact that the Mistral models are already deployed on Scaleway infrastructure will allow us to accelerate our AI approach,” Airbus Chief Digital Officer Catherine Jestin told reporters.
Airbus intends to deploy Mistral’s AI technology across military programmes and certified aviation systems, areas where the company believes European partners should retain control over intellectual property, research, development and sensitive information.
Digital sovereignty at the centre of the strategy
According to Jestin, Airbus selected Scaleway after evaluating more than 150 technical and legal criteria.
“The second set of criteria concerned legal requirements, in particular the much-discussed protection against the kill switch and against the application of extraterritorial laws,” she said.
The agreement reflects growing efforts across Europe to strengthen digital sovereignty as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly important in critical infrastructure, industrial production and defence technologies.
Last month, the European Commission proposed a Cloud and AI Development Act designed to expand Europe’s domestic cloud infrastructure and computing capabilities.
Migration programme to continue through 2028
Airbus expects to transfer around 70 critical applications to Scaleway’s cloud platform by the end of 2028.
Over the longer term, the migration programme could eventually extend to as many as 900 applications during the next five to six years.
The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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