On eve of state buy-out, company says Europe should defend critical tech and back its national champions in public procurement
Close up of the Jupiter supercomputer built by Eviden. Photo credits: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Sascha Kreklau
Europe’s supercomputing companies need more public support if they are to compete on a level playing field with their US and Chinese competitors, according to Emmanuel Le Roux, head of advanced computing and AI at Eviden.
“As a European manufacturer, if I want to put in a public bid in the US or in China, where my competitors are, I can’t. I don’t have access to the tender,” Le Roux told Science|Business in an interview during the CEA-Leti Innovation Days in Grenoble on June 18.
In contrast, European tenders are usually open to the world. As a result, US and Chinese companies often come in with aggressive pricing, forcing European bidders to align their prices or lose out on contracts.
“It’s putting our business at risk,” Le Roux said. “I know that in components, in software, there are also other companies that are suffering from being in hard competition.”
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