Iliad Group Announces €3 Billion Investment to Lead Europe’s AI Infrastructure
French telecommunications giant Iliad Group has announced a €3 billion (US$3.09 billion) investment to position itself as a leader in AI infrastructure, research, and applications across Europe. The company revealed its ambitious plans ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris, emphasizing its commitment to scaling data centers, enhancing computing power, and democratizing AI access through strategic partnerships.
Expanding AI Compute: Key Investments in Data Centers and Cloud
OpCore: Strengthening Hyperscale AI Development
Iliad Group’s data center subsidiary, OpCore, is investing €2.5 billion (US$2.57 billion) to establish itself as a leader in hyperscale AI compute infrastructure. Operating 13 data centers across Europe, OpCore has partnered with InfraVia, a major private equity firm, to rapidly scale its capacity. The company’s short-term goal is to secure several hundred megawatts of power, with long-term plans to build several gigawatts of AI-driven data center capacity.
Scaleway: Expanding AI Compute Availability
Another key subsidiary, Scaleway, offers one of Europe’s largest commercially available AI compute capacities. Iliad’s investment has enabled Scaleway to deploy nearly 5,000 top-tier GPUs, supporting businesses like Mistral AI, H, and Photoroom.
Additionally, Scaleway hosts leading open-source AI models, including Meta’s Llama, Kyutai’s Moshi, and DeepSeek, within a secure and sovereign cloud environment, ensuring enterprises can train and deploy AI models with confidence.
Democratising AI Access Through Free’s Partnership with Mistral AI
As part of its AI expansion, Iliad’s mobile operator, Free, has partnered with Mistral AI to launch France’s first telco-integrated AI assistant. Through this collaboration, Free’s 15.5 million mobile subscribers will receive 12 months of free access to le Chat Pro, Mistral AI’s premium AI assistant.
This initiative marks a significant step in making advanced AI tools accessible to everyday users, strengthening Free’s market position and reinforcing Iliad’s role in bridging AI with telecommunications.
Kyutai: Advancing Open-Source AI Research
Iliad Group is also driving AI open science through Kyutai, Europe’s first independent AI research lab launched as a private initiative. Co-founded in late 2023 with a €100 million (US$103.17 million) investment, Kyutai focuses on developing open-source AI models and voice technologies.
Its latest innovation, Hibiki, is a cutting-edge real-time translation system that preserves the speaker’s original voice, intonation, and semantic flow. Currently optimized for French-to-English translation, Hibiki surpasses existing solutions in quality, voice fidelity, and naturalness. Designed for real-time, on-device use, this breakthrough in AI-powered voice translation unlocks new opportunities for global communication and accessibility.
Shaping the Future of AI in Europe
Iliad’s €3 billion AI investment marks a strategic push to establish Europe as a global leader in AI infrastructure and research. By scaling data centers, expanding computing capabilities, and pioneering AI-driven services, the company is set to redefine AI accessibility and innovation.
Thomas Reynaud, CEO of Iliad Group, summarized the vision:
“We’re investing €3 billion across the entire value chain—from data centers to computing power and open-science research. Through our partnership with Mistral AI, we’re democratizing AI and shaping the future of technology.”
With hyperscale infrastructure, sovereign AI models, and groundbreaking voice AI technology, Iliad is positioning itself as a driving force behind Europe’s AI revolution.