French State-Owned Bull Doubles Supercomputer Output at Angers Factory
Bull, the French state-owned supercomputer maker, has doubled production at its factory in Angers, western France, after an €80 million rebuild. The plant now assembles 12 racks a month, up from six, executives told Reuters, which first reported the expansion on Thursday.
Background
Bull formally opened the new production building on Friday. According to the company, Angers is the only site in Europe that can assemble supercomputers at large scale, and the wider reconstruction of the site will be finished in 2028.
Key Developments
- Expanded Output: The extra space allows Bull to build two large orders side by side for the first time.
- Orders: The first is Alice Recoque, a 94-rack exascale system for France’s atomic energy commission, the CEA.
- Second Order: The second is LUMI-AI, a €387.8 million system for Kajaani, Finland, and the largest contract in Bull’s history.
- Contract Details: Both machines are due in 2027. Alice Recoque will arrive in stages from the end of this year at a cost of €554 million to France and the EU.
Successes
- Order Wins: Chief executive Emmanuel Le Roux stated that Bull has signed more orders this year than at any time before, having won 15 of the 18 tenders run by EuroHPC.
- European Components: European-made components now make up about 70% of the systems, compared with 20% to 30% five years ago.
Future Plans
Bull plans to use the site for AI servers under a partnership with Foxconn. Under this agreement, Foxconn will manufacture parts of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin NVL72 systems in the Czech Republic, with final assembly in Angers. The company intends to name further manufacturing partners in early 2027.