U.S. cloud giants currently dominate the artificial intelligence infrastructure that Germany depends on and Polarise is on a mission to change that. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google process vast amounts of sensitive German data on foreign-owned servers which is slowly ending the country’s AI sovereignty.
Because of this, governments and businesses are now forced to confront a difficult question. Who really controls the data that drives critical decisions?
Consequently, Germany finds itself at the center of that question and Polarise is building a solution. The company is therefore reclaiming Germany’s AI sovereignty by constructing a powerful domestic alternative to American cloud dominance.
Thirty Megawatts of AI Sovereignty
For a start, Polarise is building a purpose-built AI data center in Amberg, Bavaria. The facility will deliver an initial capacity of 30 MW with plans to scale up to 120 MW and launch is planned for mid-2027.
That scale matters because the new Amberg facility would double Germany’s entire domestically-run AI computing capacity at a time when AI data centers in Germany boasted total capacity of 530 MW at the end of last year.
Furthermore, in Munich, Polarise completed its previous project in just six months from concept to commissioning compared to the typical two to three years needed for new data center construction.
As a result, the core promise is simple. Data processed inside the facility stays under German law and never crosses foreign borders.
The Clients Who Can’t Afford to Trust the Cloud
Similarly, the timing works strongly in Polarise’s favor. Businesses in healthcare, finance, and government cannot afford to store sensitive data on American-owned servers.This is because U.S. law can compel American tech companies to provide data to U.S. authorities, including data stored overseas.
In fact, Microsoft has admitted in a French court that it could not guarantee data sovereignty for European customers in the event of a legally justified injunction. That risk is therefore pushing European companies toward local alternatives.
Moreover, the chair of CISPE and 24 European cloud CEOs sent an open letter to the European Commission. They therefore demanded that the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act advance real European sovereignty.
Specifically, their goal was to stop American hyperscalers from tightening their grip on European markets. The demand for sovereign infrastructure is consequently no longer just political, it is commercial.
A Fortress Built on Foreign Foundations
However, Polarise faces a serious challenge. American tech giants are not stepping aside quietly.
Microsoft, Amazon, and Google collectively spend over $100 billion annually on capital expenditures with a huge chunk directed toward cloud infrastructure. No European company or consortium can match this investment level without significant public support.
Nevertheless, Polarise does not need to beat the giants everywhere. It only needs to win in the specific segment where American providers are legally disadvantaged. But, there’s an irony here.
Right now, non-European hyperscalers currently control roughly 70% of the continent’s cloud market, yet Polarise builds its sovereign cloud on chips designed and manufactured outside Europe. In other words, the fortress is resting on foreign foundations.
AI Sovereignty Needs More Than Infrastructure
Ultimately, Polarise’s bet means that sovereignty is finally moving from policy speeches into concrete construction. Europe is questioning its overreliance on U.S. technology infrastructure. Many critics say this dependency poses strategic, economic, and security risks.
Beyond that, building the infrastructure is only the first step. Filling it with homegrown AI tools and applications is the harder one.
In the end, Germany now has the foundation, what it builds on top of it will determine everything.
