Airbus has cited the risks of US jurisdiction as it prepares to move sensitive systems to a European sovereign cloud
</p><div><p>European aerospace company Airbus has decided to remove critical digital systems from Google's cloud services. Company executives say the decision is driven by security and data sovereignty concerns related to U.S. jurisdiction over sensitive industrial information.
The decision comes as Google faces a class action lawsuit in the US over alleged privacy violations related to its AI assistant, Gemini. The lawsuit claims the tool was quietly activated in Gmail, Chat and Meet in October, giving Google access to emails, attachments and video calls without the user’s consent, according to Bloomberg. Google has denied the allegations.
Airbus is now preparing to tender a major contract for the migration of mission-critical workloads to a digitally sovereign European cloud. The company, which currently uses Google Workspace, plans to move key systems on-site after it consolidates its data centers.
The shift would cover core systems including manufacturing, business management and aircraft design data. Airbus estimates there is only an 80% chance of finding a European provider that can meet its technical and regulatory requirements.
“I need a sovereign cloud because some of the information is extremely sensitive from a national and European perspective,” Catherine Jestin, executive vice president of digital at Airbus, told The Register. “We want to ensure that this information remains under European control.”
The tender, worth more than €50 million ($58.5 million), is expected to start in early January, with a decision before the summer. Airbus, which has led the global plane order race for the past six years, acknowledged earlier this month that U.S. rival Boeing is likely to overtake this year.
CEO Guillaume Faury said Boeing benefited from political support during trade negotiations, including the purchase of large aircraft.
US President Donald Trump has publicly taken credit for boosting Boeing sales, saying earlier this month that he had received an award from the manufacturer for “the biggest seller in Boeing history.”
