The European Union’s European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has signed a contract with HPE to deploy a new AI-optimized supercomputer dubbed HammerHAI in Stuttgart, Germany.

The system will be housed at the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) and will be used to support artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science workloads.

Manufactured and installed by HPE, HammerHAI will be based on liquid-cooled Nvidia GB200 NVL architecture and interconnected by Nvidia Quantum-X800 InfiniBand technology. Set to offer 15 exaflops of AI compute performance, the system will also integrate Vast Data’s DASE (disaggregated, shared-everything) storage architecture and have a partition powered by AI inferencing hardware from Netherlands-based Axelera AI.

Delivery of the HammerHAI supercomputer is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026, with the system expected to go into operation in the second half of 2026.

The system will be the first AI-optimized supercomputer to be deployed under the European Union’s AI Factories initiative. The HammerHAI AI factory opened in April 2025 and provides test access to AI compute capabilities, inference services for LLMs, AI training courses, and guidance on AI ethics and risk management.

“Today’s signature marks a new step toward a vibrant European AI ecosystem,” said Anders Jensen, EuroHPC JU executive director. “The HammerHAI supercomputer will empower European startups and industry to innovate at scale while reinforcing Europe’s digital sovereignty and technological leadership.”

Dr. Bastian Koller, managing director of HLRS and lead coordinator of HammerHAI, added: “The contract signing for this new, AI-optimized system marks a new chapter in HammerHAI’s development. We invite future users of the system to begin preparing their datasets, algorithms, and workflows now. This will make it possible to begin taking advantage of the system’s powerful new capabilities as soon as it becomes available.”

Launched in 2018 and headquartered in Luxembourg, EuroHPC JU is a joint initiative between the EU, 35 European countries, and private partners to develop a supercomputing ecosystem in Europe.

In December 2024, the EuroHPC JU announced plans to deploy five new AI-optimized supercomputers by the end of 2026, at seven so-called AI factories across Europe. In addition to HammerHAI at HLRS in Germany, AI supercomputers will also be deployed in Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Sweden, while Spain will see its MareNostrum 5 system upgraded to an AI factory, and a second factory will be established in Greece in association with the DAEDALUS supercomputer.

An additional six sites were announced in March 2025, with the initiative going on to add six further AI factories to its network of existing hubs in October of that same year, bringing the total number across Europe to 19.