On March 13, Sesterce, a Marseille-based company specializing in next-generation infrastructures for HPC and AI, officially presented its project with the elected officials of Valence Romans Agglo to establish in Drôme, unveiled on February 10 during the AI Summit: the construction of a supercomputer and an AI campus.
This project is the first of an ambitious investment plan amounting to 52 billion for the deployment of infrastructures dedicated to AI training and inference in France by 2030, announced by Sesterce, founded by Anthony Tchakerian and Youssef El Manssouri in 2018. While the two entrepreneurs acknowledge having difficulty finding a site to establish this supercomputer, which they claim will be the largest in France and one of the most powerful in Europe, the ZAC Rovaltain in Alixan, located near the Valence TGV station, proves to be a strategic location.
The supercomputer will be installed at the Ecotox Center, initially dedicated to ecotoxicology and environmental toxicology but which did not meet its objectives. The site was acquired in 2021 by the Institut Mérieux, which signed the sale agreement with Sesterce on March 10. The dark fiber, a very high-speed optical network running along the TGV line, and solid energy support provided by RTE will ensure supply for the highly energy-intensive installations.
A Cutting-Edge Supercomputer Serving AI
Anthony Tchakerian, co-founder and General Manager of Sesterce, shared during the project presentation the main features of this supercomputer for which, after an initial investment of 450 million euros, 1.8 billion will be allocated, including the cost of the 40,000 GPUs used for AI model training and inference.
Energy efficiency is thus at the heart of Sesterce's project. The supercomputer will use a closed-loop cooling system, optimizing the use of natural resources.
This device relies on a water circuit that, entering at a temperature of 15 to 20 degrees to cool the servers, exits at about 60 degrees. This heat is then transferred to a second circuit via a heat exchanger, allowing both the reuse of water and the valorization of thermal energy to power a heating network. The recovered waste heat will be used to heat businesses in the ZAC, thus contributing to better energy efficiency and reducing CO₂ emissions.
Anthony Tchakerian assures:
"Thanks to our closed-loop system, we achieve exceptional energy efficiency with 98% Joule effect, while saving 96% water compared to a conventional system. An energy almost entirely reinvested, also reducing local CO₂ emissions by 60%."
This project, which will at least create 800 jobs, aims to strengthen Europe's technological independence and is fully in line with the AI Plan 2030, announced at the AI Summit, which aims to develop a sovereign, sustainable, and high-performance digital infrastructure.
A Campus Dedicated to Innovation and Training
In addition to the computing infrastructure, Sesterce plans to open a
campus dedicated to AI, designed to foster innovation and collaboration between companies, startups, and researchers.
This campus will be structured around three main axes:
- A technology incubator : AI startups and entrepreneurs will benefit from mentoring, resources, and funding to develop their solutions. Hackathons and competitions will be organized to stimulate creativity and the emergence of new applications;
- Advanced training and educational programs : bootcamps, immersive workshops, and online courses will be offered to train in artificial intelligence technologies, for both beginners and experts;
- A collaborative space for applied research : this campus aims to bring together companies and academic institutions to address major industrial and societal challenges through AI.
Youssef El Manssouri, CEO and co-founder of Sesterce, emphasizes:
"Through this place, we not only want to position Drôme as a center of excellence in artificial intelligence but also actively contribute to the rise of responsible and high-performance AI, serving businesses and citizens."
The company, which aims to become the European leader in AI-dedicated infrastructures, has already planned to apply its virtuous and resilient approach to former industrial sites or polluted sites, particularly in the South Region and the Grand Est Region.
To better understand
What is dark fiber and how is it used in this supercomputer project?
Dark fiber is an unlit fiber optic network, offering dedicated high-bandwidth capacity. In Sesterce's supercomputer project, it provides fast Internet connectivity, crucial for massive data processing in AI.
What is the AI Plan 2030 and what is its main goal?
The AI Plan 2030 is a European initiative aimed at developing a sovereign and sustainable digital infrastructure to strengthen Europe’s technological independence in the AI field.