2CRSi Co-founds ÆTHER, a European Consortium for AI Data Centers in Alsace
2CRSi, a French high-performance server manufacturer, has announced its role as a founding member of the ÆTHER consortium, which includes European leaders in energy, cloud, and computing. The project aims to build AI-dedicated data centers in the Strasbourg region, with an initial electrical capacity of 42 MW.
A European Consortium for Sovereign AI Infrastructure
2CRSi is among the founding companies of ÆTHER, a consortium that includes key players from the European high-performance computing, cloud, and energy industries. The project is based on five commitments: reusing existing industrial sites (zero net land artificialization), reindustrializing the high-performance computing value chain in Europe, achieving low-carbon energy, ensuring full data sovereignty, and integrating computing centers into local economic and regional ecosystems. ÆTHER has submitted an application to the European Commission's AI Gigafactory call for projects, launched as part of the Union's digital and industrial sovereignty strategy. The consortium has entered into advanced negotiations for the acquisition of two industrial sites in the Strasbourg area, intended to host AI-dedicated computing infrastructures.
Two Campuses in Alsace with Gradual Scaling
ÆTHER Infrastructures, the project company leading the initiative, plans to commission two data centers in Alsace: FR-SXB1 is expected to begin operations in 2027 (subject to finalization of the site by the end of October 2026), and FR-SXB2 a few months later (planned acquisition by the end of December 2026). The two sites will provide an initial combined electrical capacity of 42 MW. Within 12 months of commissioning, the goal is to secure an additional 40 MW. In the long term, the ambition is for a total capacity exceeding 400 MW, subject to network availability and proposals from RTE (Electricity Transmission Network), expected by the end of July 2026 for FR-SXB1.
Diverse Technological and Energy Partners
Alongside 2CRSi, the consortium includes Axelera AI (AI inference platforms), SiPearl (high-performance processors), Viridien (computing infrastructure), Dassault Systèmes through its Outscale brand (sovereign cloud), as well as the builders Demathieu Bard and Equans, the energy companies Électricité de Strasbourg, Socomec, and Haffner Energy, the real estate operator Nhood, and the engineering firm Projex. Local authorities (Grand Est Region and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg) have confirmed their support for the project.
