The Schwarz Group from Neckarsulm is focusing on expanding data centers in Germany to increase the independence and resilience of the entire republic. Schwarz boss Gerd Chrzanowski told Focus that Germany needs computing capacity to operate AI models. While the data centers are needed for their own purposes, they are also happy to open them to other customers for whom sovereignty and survivability in a crisis are important. The Schwarz Group, which includes Lidl and Kaufland, has already announced two major projects in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg, where 16.6 billion euros are set to be invested in the coming years. Chrzanowski does not seem concerned about the expenditure. He stated that the era of concrete implementation has only just begun for them, calling it an exciting time. The company, which has an annual global turnover of nearly 190 billion euros, is attempting to compete with US companies like Amazon or Microsoft by offering its own cloud solution called Stackit Paroli, a move some critics have found unconvincing so far. Chrzanowski acknowledged that critics were partially correct, noting that while they are performing excellently and are on schedule, they have not yet reached their ultimate goal. Nevertheless, the group claims to be a leader in sovereign data cloud solutions across Europe. The others, according to the group, started 25 years earlier but are not sovereign in the European sense.
Mixed
