European aerospace giant Airbus has decided to leave Google's cloud services to move key digital systems to a European sovereign cloud platform.
Business leaders said the choice stemmed from security concerns and legal risks related to US jurisdiction over sensitive industrial data.
The decision comes as Google faces a class action lawsuit in the US over allegations of violating the privacy of the Gemini AI assistant tool.
According to the cited information, the lawsuit alleges that Gemini was enabled on Gmail, Chat and Meet, allowing Google to access emails, attachments and video calls without user consent. Google has denied these allegations.
Airbus is preparing to bid for a major contract to move mission- oriented work to a European cloud platform with digital sovereignty. The company is still using Google Workspace, but plans to relocate important on-site systems after merging the data center infrastructure.
The conversion scope includes core systems such as manufacturing, business administration and aircraft design data. Airbus estimates that there is only an 80% chance of finding a European supplier that meets both technical and legal requirements.
Ms. Catherine Jestin - Executive Vice President of Digital Affairs of Airbus - emphasized that businesses need a sovereign cloud platform because many of the information are "extremely sensitive" on the national and European levels, and must be placed under the control of Europe.
The package, expected to cost more than €50 million, was launched in early January and decided before the summer. Airbus, the business leading the global aircraft order race for the past 6 years, admitted that US rival Boeing could surpass it this year.
Mr. Guillaume Faury - CEO of Airbus - said that Boeing benefits from political support in trade negotiations accompanied by large orders for aircraft. US President Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged his contributions to boosting Boeing's sales.
