The bottom line: European data centers and cloud providers must simultaneously implement digital sovereignty and resolve storage bottlenecks for growing AI workloads.
European cloud and data center providers face two pressing challenges: the demand for digital sovereignty and increasing scarcity of storage capacity, driven by the scaling of AI workloads.
The debate around digital sovereignty has evolved from a marketing promise to a concrete business requirement. According to Dr. Lennart Gaida of Impossible Cloud, “sovereignty and AI washing are over” — the market now distinguishes providers that deliver truly sovereign solutions from those that merely make declarations. The term itself remains open to interpretation: while some providers focus solely on storage location within Europe, others understand digital sovereignty as comprehensive technological independence from US vendors or as complete legal control over data.
Cubbit demonstrates concrete technical solutions with the “geolocating” approach: data is encrypted, fragmented into multiple parts, and distributed across geographically defined locations rather than stored centrally on a single server. This enables organizations to technically implement binding requirements such as GDPR compliance and data residency regulations. Geopolitical factors — not least the perceived dependence on US technology providers — are additionally driving European sovereignty solutions.
In parallel, the infrastructure situation is tightening due to insufficient storage capacity. As AI infrastructures scale, cloud providers, hyperscalers, and server manufacturers across Europe face increasing pressure. NAND flash specialist Phison Electronics is responding with its Pascari product line for the European market. According to Michael Wu, President and General Manager of Phison, European organizations must simultaneously expand their AI infrastructure, manage supply chain constraints, ensure energy efficiency, and guarantee data sovereignty. With Pascari Gen5 SSDs and aiDAPTIV technology, Phison addresses storage bottlenecks and enables larger AI workloads on compact systems and servers. The company has formed partnerships with platform, server, and PC providers such as AIC and InWin.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published June 15, 2026
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