Barcelona strengthens position as Europe's AI Hub with 129 million euros Supercomputer expansion

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) is expanding MareNostrum 5 to make Barcelona a key part of Europe's artificial intelligence network. This €129 million project will add advanced AI features to one of Europe’s top supercomputers.

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), the EU's supercomputing initiative, has contracted a consortium led by Fujitsu's HPC and AI division, Fsas Technologies, and Telefónica for the MareNostrum 5 AI Upgrade. Selected after a tender in July, this consortium will help advance Europe's supercomputing capabilities in artificial intelligence.

Jointly funded by EuroHPC and national partners in Spain, Portugal, Türkiye, and Catalonia, the upgrade addresses the challenge of providing advanced AI resources to organizations unable to invest in their own supercomputing infrastructure.

Advanced capabilities coming in 2026

The upgrade will add two new computing sections: one for training large language models (LLMs) and another for using them, known as inference. Storage will also get a boost with a new high-performance file system designed for AI, along with new technologies and specialized software.

The improved MareNostrum 5 will include five new systems built for AI, specialized software, and high-performance storage optimized for AI tasks. These upgrades will help with everything from training large language models to running complex AI projects at scale.

A group led by Fujitsu’s HPC and AI division and Telefónica is carrying out the upgrade, using the latest technology from Supermicro, IBM, VAST Data, and NVIDIA. The system will run in two locations in Barcelona when it starts in early 2026.

Democratizing AI for European competitiveness

Through the BSC AI Factory, SMEs, startups, researchers, and public administrations will have access to technology that would typically cost millions to deploy. This democratization of AI infrastructure aims to accelerate innovation and help European companies compete with global tech leaders.

The project strengthens Barcelona's role as a hub where world-class research infrastructure directly supports business growth and technological advancement, positioning the region as essential to Europe's digital future.

Source: BSC-CNS