Ionos Relies on Photonic Chips from Q.ANT

Partnership in Photon Processors Ionos Relies on Photonic Chips from Q.ANT

2026-05-19 From Hendrik Härter | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

Related Vendors

tmts2026-ticec-banner-en-2000px (https://www.tmts.tw/en)

Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

SIMTOS (Seoul International Machine Tool Show)

The path from the research laboratory to commercial data centers is paved. Ionos will integrate Q.ANT's light-based processors (NPUs) into its infrastructure in future. The aim is to build an energy-efficient and European AI hardware stack.

Strategic partnership: IONOS and Q.ANT want to work together on photonic computing in the future.(Image: Q.ANT) — Strategic partnership: IONOS and Q.ANT want to work together on photonic computing in the future.
(Image: Q.ANT)

Cloud provider Ionos and photonics specialist Q.ANT have announced a strategic partnership at re:publica 2026 in Berlin, Germany. The cooperation focuses on the commercial use of Q.ANT's Native Processing Units (NPUs) in Ionos' data centers. The collaboration aims to meet the increasing energy requirements of AI workloads with photonics-based computing power and at the same time build a European alternative to established AI accelerators.

From Research to Industry

So far, Q.ANT's Native Processing Servers (NPS) have mainly been used in scientific environments, including the Leibniz Supercomputing Center (LRZ) in Munich and the Jülich Research Center. With Ionos as a partner, the step towards broad industrialization is now being taken.

Technologically, the experts at Q.ANT rely on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on thin film lithium niobate (TFLN). These perform mathematical operations directly with light. Compared to traditional GPU architectures, this approach promises not only high computing power for complex AI matrices, but above all significantly reduced energy consumption.

Focus on Hardware Sovereignty

A central motif of the partnership is digital sovereignty at hardware level. While debates about European independence are often limited to software and platforms, Ionos and Q.ANT are addressing the physical computing infrastructure. According to the company, Q.ANT's photonic processors can be manufactured entirely within the European Union—the start-up is already operating a pilot line in Stuttgart together with IMS CHIPS.

"Digital sovereignty is an economic necessity for Europe," explains Dr. Andreas Nauerz, Chief Product Officer at Ionos. With the Q.ANT technology, the company wants to enable the scaling of AI infrastructures and offer an end-to-end sovereign AI stack.

Dr. Michael Förtsch, CEO of Q.ANT, sees the cooperation as the starting signal for commercial use: "Photonic chips can demonstrate their strengths over conventional GPUs, especially in AI. Through the cooperation with Ionos, we are now taking a decisive step towards industrialization."

First Solutions Planned for Summer 2026

The partners are pursuing an ambitious timetable: The first joint solutions for next-generation AI and HPC (High Performance Computing) applications in the cloud are to be presented as early as this summer. (heh)

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.