PrintBavaria's first AI factory launches in Munich's Tucherpark
In the heart of Munich, one of Germany’s first AI factories has opened — and it is also the first in Bavaria. Located at Tucherpark, the young company Polarise now operates a high-performance data centre comprising more than 10,000 GPUs across six underground levels. The first user is T-Systems, which officially launched its Industrial AI Cloud today in the presence of prominent figures from the worlds of politics, business, and science.
The modernised facility stands for sustainable reuse, digital infrastructure and Bavaria’s ambition in the AI competition. With a floor area of around 10,700 m², 10,000 graphics processors and a capacity of up to 15 megawatts, the new AI factory at Munich’s Tucherpark is one of the most powerful facilities of its kind in Germany.
The operator Polarise, which has set up the AI factory in collaboration with NVIDIA over the past six months, and investors Commerz Real and Hines are focusing on sustainable technology for the redevelopment of the former HVB site, including Eisbach cooling and waste heat utilisation. According to T-Systems, several companies are already using the AI computing capacities. For example, Munich-based provider Agile Robots combines artificial intelligence with robotics and contributes its AI foundation to the Industrial AI Cloud. Another example is PhysicsX, a company that specialises in technical simulation to shorten the development time of products and product parts. The AI factory is already operating at over a third of its capacity with its existing customers.
„Many can talk. Deutsche Telekom acts,“ emphasizes Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. „We are investing in AI, in Germany as a business location and in Europe. Our AI factory in Munich is the basis for innovative business models, for industry, start-ups and the government – and for sovereignty. We are proving here that Europe can do AI.“
„For the Investment Plan to succeed, we need both – public and private investment. We have created the conditions for public investment and are now working to ensure that investments are made at speed,“ says the German Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil. „Today I was able to convince myself in an impressive way that private investments are also picking up. For me, it is particularly important that technological leadership must be at the core of Germany's future business model. This is an important stake for the German and European AI ecosystem. Not only do innovative companies benefit from this, it also strengthens digital sovereignty.“
For investors Hines and Commerz Real, the launch marks an important addition to the neighbourhood development, strengthening Munich's position as a technology and business location. The lease agreement for the former Hypovereinsbank data centre was signed in October 2025 with the operator Polarise for a term of 13 years. The capacity is to be gradually expanded to up to 15 megawatts – a typical value for medium-sized data centres.
“Thus one of the most efficient infrastructures for AI centres in Germany has been created in the heart of Munich many years before comparable projects anywhere else in the country,” says a visibly pleased Michel Boutouil, CEO of Polarise. The company was founded in 2024 and utilises the expertise and experience it has gathered through the successful realisation of a large number of data centres in the past 15 years, operating AI factories “across the entire life-cycle”. An initial, similar plant was opened in Oslo in 2025. Other factories are planned or already being implemented in Bavaria, Hesse and in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In contrast to conventional data centres, AI factories have considerably greater capacity and a higher energy density. The plant on 10,700 square metres across six underground floors in Tucherpark has the capacity for some 10,000 modern graphic processing units (GPUs) provided by the American technology enterprise Nvidia. The users of the infrastructure are companies in the fields of industry, research and technology. Erected in 1991 and used by HVB through to June 2024, the facility has been comprehensively modernised. A new aboveground access point with a truck entrance and office areas is replacing the access point to date via an underground tunnel beneath the Eisbach stream.
“Munich is an outstanding location that is highly attractive for tech companies and that will play a leading role in the future development of AI in Europe,” emphasises Mario Schüttauf, managing director of Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft, which holds Tucherpark in its portfolio. And Christian Meister, Senior Managing Director at Hines in Germany, adds: “In Tucherpark we have the optimum infrastructure to allow us to implement these plans at pace, cost-favourably and in an environmentally-friendly manner.”
Commerz Real AG" />A bird's eye view of Tucherpark. © Commerz Real AG