The American artificial intelligence chip manufacturer Cerebras plans to launch its first data centre in Europe before the end of 2026 and reach a combined power of 200 MW by 2027, in an expansion valued at several billion dollars.
The American artificial intelligence chip manufacturer Cerebras announced on Thursday its expansion plan in Europe, with the launch of its first data centre on the continent before the end of 2026. The company envisions a network of infrastructures that will span France and the Nordic countries, reaching a total electrical power of 200 megawatts (MW) by the end of 2027.
A Response to European Demand for Local AI
According to the company in a statement, the decision responds to the strong increase in demand for local, low-latency artificial intelligence infrastructures from companies, research institutions, and European governments. These entities are seeking alternatives to the computing capacity concentrated in the United States and Asia, in a context of transatlantic tensions that has led many to be wary of excessive dependence on American suppliers.
Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman told AFP that these are "massive expansions" valued at several billion dollars. Feldman made these statements on the sidelines of the RAISE summit in Paris, where the company presented its plans.
"These deployments will allow us to decisively advance in what our customers have been asking us for: fast, high-performance AI computing capacity located in Europe," Feldman stated in the official announcement.
The Rise of Inference and AI Agents
Cerebras, founded in 2015, has specialised in chips dedicated to artificial intelligence inference, the process by which models provide responses to user requests. This segment has experienced unstoppable growth with the popularisation of AI agents, interfaces capable of performing tasks autonomously, which require significantly higher computing resources.
The company has indicated that part of the capacity of its future data centres will be allocated to managing workloads for OpenAI, within the framework of the alliance that both companies already maintain. This move positions Cerebras as a relevant player in the competition with giants like Nvidia, which currently powers over 90% of the AI factory projects announced in Europe, according to Nvidia's own data.
Electrical power has become the main indicator for AI data centres, as electricity is the factor that most limits their expansion. To put this in context, smaller enterprise data centres typically consume between 1 and 20 MW, while hyperscale facilities can reach 100 MW or more. The 200 MW planned by Cerebras thus represents a large-scale bet.
A Record IPO and Market Confidence
The boom in AI infrastructure has allowed Cerebras to raise $5.5 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States last May, making it one of the fifteen largest IPOs in Wall Street history. This capital injection supports its ambitious European expansion plan.
Feldman highlighted that the demand for computing capacity for generative AI in Europe is "extraordinary" and growing "faster than we can keep up with." With the deployment of data centres across the continent, the company is confident it can meet European demands for data sovereignty and regulation.
For European companies and administrations, this investment represents an opportunity to access high-performance AI infrastructures without relying exclusively on non-EU suppliers. The expectation is that the first data centres will be operational by late 2026, with France and the Nordic countries as the initial destinations.
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