Overview

• Deutsche Telekom, Ionos and Schwarz Group’s IT subsidiary each submitted independent expressions of interest by Friday’s deadline, ending hopes for a unified German bid
• The EU intends to back up to five AI gigafactories with investments of 3–5 billion euros per site and grants covering up to 35 percent of costs
• SAP opted out of the process, saying it will focus on supplying software and does not require large-scale computing infrastructure
• Telekom and Ionos anchored separate bids, with Telekom inviting partners to join its lead consortium and Ionos pledging a robust application backed by strong collaborators
• Germany’s coalition agreement commits Berlin to hosting at least one of the EU-funded AI centers and Brussels will decide awardees later this year