Europe’s AI Race Gets a New Challenger as OVHcloud Plans Its Own Model
Aadhya Tibrewal, Jadetimes Staff
OVHcloud is preparing to enter a more competitive part of the AI race, with its first artificial intelligence model expected in early 2027. Chief executive Octave Klaba outlined the plan on 20 October. For the French cloud company, the move would expand its role from providing computing infrastructure to developing more of the technology that runs on it.
The planned model will use a mixture-of-experts design. In simple terms, this approach directs different tasks towards specialised parts of a model, rather than treating every request in exactly the same way. However, the model has not yet been released for public assessment. Its eventual performance, cost and usefulness will therefore matter more than the announcement alone.
Alongside that work, the company is developing OVHai Workspace, a platform intended to bring together email, cloud storage and video meetings. The idea is to reduce the need to jump between separate applications throughout the working day. OVHcloud also wants the platform to remain open to partner applications, allowing other services to become part of the same workspace.
Its proposed AI features focus on practical tasks rather than conversation alone. According to OVHcloud, users would be able to search for information across applications, automate complicated actions and simplify repetitive work. For someone dealing with messages, documents and meetings every day, the attraction would be spending less time finding information and moving it between tools.
Privacy and data control are another part of the company’s pitch. OVHai Workspace offers an end-to-end encryption option. When this is enabled, the company says its search and AI functions operate on the user’s computer or mobile device, so sensitive information can be processed locally. These are the company’s stated features, and their day-to-day value will depend on how well the platform works for customers.
The announcement comes as OVHcloud reports improving business results. Its annual revenue reached about €1.15 billion, and the company reported positive levered free cash flow, a measure of cash remaining after investment and financing costs. That gives the AI plans a business backdrop: OVHcloud is trying to grow while showing that its existing operations can support continued investment. The next test will be turning its plans into reliable products that customers choose to use.
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