NVIDIA and GENCI launched AI Factory France at VivaTech on June 18, 2026, giving startups free access to European AI supercomputers. The program targets NVIDIA Inception members with R&D in Europe, offering compute, tools, and expert support.
Key facts
- Program launched June 18, 2026 at VivaTech in Paris.
- Targets NVIDIA Inception members with R&D in Europe.
- Includes free access to French and European NVIDIA AI supercomputers.
- Early access startups: Pleias, Nebula, Ryax Technologies.
- Second European AI Factory to join under same model soon.
NVIDIA and GENCI have moved AI Factory France (AI2F) from announcement to operational reality. Announced at VivaTech on June 18, 2026, the program provides startups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with streamlined access to cutting-edge computing infrastructure and specialized AI services According to HPCwire. The initiative was first previewed during the Adopt AI Summit in Paris in November 2025.
What the program includes
NVIDIA Inception members conducting open research with R&D based in Europe can now freely leverage French and European NVIDIA AI supercomputers alongside a comprehensive suite of services including data and software services, training programs, expert support and co-development opportunities. The program bridges NVIDIA’s global innovation ecosystem with France’s national and European AI resources.
Early access beneficiaries include Pleias, Nebula and Ryax Technologies. "What makes this program meaningful for a startup like Pleias is that it goes well beyond compute," said Anastasia Stasenko, Pleias CEO. "The combination of infrastructure, tools, engineering environments, and the direct support of NVIDIA’s solution architects is what created the foundation for transforming a compute grant on Jean Zay into Nemotron-Personas-France and Nemotron-Personas-Belgium."
European expansion
This announcement will be followed swiftly by another European AI Factory’s enrollment in the program under the same model, marking its first European-scale expansion. "Building on our long-standing partnership with NVIDIA and the many successes we have supported across our startup and SME community, this joint program will nurture our ecosystem," said Cédric Auliac, AI Program Manager at GENCI and Coordinator of AI Factory France.
Howard Wright, vice president of Startup Ecosystem at NVIDIA, framed the initiative as connecting entrepreneurs with accelerated computing infrastructure, technical expertise and startup support to move faster from experimentation to deployment.
Unique take: This is not a compute grant program — it's a vendor lock-in play disguised as open innovation. By offering free access to NVIDIA hardware and solution architects, NVIDIA ensures European startups build on CUDA and its ecosystem, making future portability to AMD or Cerebras systems harder. The "open research" requirement masks the real prize: startups become NVIDIA reference customers.
What to watch
Watch for the identity of the second European AI Factory enrolling under the same model — likely a facility in Germany or the Nordics — and whether it offers non-NVIDIA compute options. Also track if any startup exits the program citing vendor dependency concerns.
Source: hpcwire.com
