French cloud computing provider OVHcloud is pushing for a cross-border approach to artificial intelligence infrastructure in Europe, as the company reported solid first-quarter revenue growth and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
Speaking to analysts on Thursday, Chief Executive Octave Klaba said OVHcloud has been in talks with the European Commission over plans for AI “gigafactories,” but criticized what he described as a fragmented, country-by-country strategy across the European Union.
Klaba said the group has begun discussions with potential partners in six or seven European countries to build cross-border AI infrastructure with interconnected facilities. He argued that current initiatives are overly focused on building assets rather than addressing how customers will ultimately use them.
“For the moment, it’s just the initiative to create the assets, but nobody talks about how it will be used,” he said.
OVHcloud reported 6% organic growth in first-quarter revenue, with sales reaching 275.3 million euros ($321.4 million) for the quarter ended in October. Public cloud services, which account for 21% of total revenue, rose 15.8% to 58.2 million euros. Private cloud services, including dedicated servers, grew 4% to 167.2 million euros.
The company’s net revenue retention rate stood at 105% on a like-for-like basis, indicating increased spending by existing customers. However, Klaba acknowledged challenges in attracting new clients, which could weigh on OVHcloud’s long-term ambition of reaching 2 billion euros in annual revenue.
“We are not good at the acquisition of new customers today,” Klaba said, adding that the company aims for OVHcloud to be recognized by every European citizen by 2030.
Klaba also said OVHcloud’s inventory planning has helped shield it from rising memory and disk prices during the 2025 and 2026 financial years, though he warned that potential component shortages could push capital expenditure higher in 2027.
Separately, OVHcloud announced plans to expand its so-called 3-AZ regions — infrastructure spread across three availability zones to reduce outage risks — to Berlin, following earlier launches in Paris and Milan.
