With Octave Klaba, Founder, Chairman and CEO of OVHcloud, moderated by Marjorie Paillon, Presenter, Producer and Speaker.
What Octave Klaba said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Octave Klaba, CEO of OVH Groupe, discussed the company's quantum progress and European sovereignty. He highlighted the quantum platform launched in November 2025, the addition of Quandela in April 2026, 15 emulators, and 2,000 users, with a roadmap for eight QPUs, seven European. He noted that only 5% of quantum investment goes to European companies, stressing the importance of public procurement. He commented on Jensen Huang's changed stance, seeing it as engineering, and welcomed Nvidia's $100 million investment in Alice and Bob as validation. He emphasized the need for European development of quantum technology, citing broken quantum cryptography as an example, and praised the June 3rd sovereignty package. He mentioned OVH's self-funded efforts, the additional 500 million and one billion in public money, and partnerships with hardware providers. He announced a partnership with Kobi, the first computer on the platform by end of 2026, based on silicon qubits.
Key takeaways
OVHcloud's quantum platform launched in November 2025, with Quandela added in April 2026, now has 15 emulators and 2,000 users.
Only 5% of quantum investment goes to European companies, making public procurement critical.
OVHcloud will partner with Kobi, the first computer on the platform by end of 2026, using silicon qubits.
Nvidia's $100 million investment in Alice and Bob validates the ecosystem, but innovation must stay in Europe.
OVHcloud does not make money on quantum; it acts as a proxy, flowing maximum money to partners.
0:11We're actually halfway through 2026, and looking back at the past year, what have been the major takeaways and the major wins for OVHcloud in the quantum space?
1:04Realistically, can France and Europe compete with the US and China when it comes to the massive amount of money pouring into the quantum ecosystem?
2:12Now today, this tune has completely changed to "there is no quantum without GPUs." Would you say that?
3:14Would you say that is a good sign for the entire ecosystem, or is he stepping into your shoes in some ways?
3:56Is this the same rule when it comes to quantum technology, industrial cognitive sovereignty?
5:14What concrete measures do you see in this initiative, and how will OVHcloud take part in them?
6:44Are you strategically aligning OVHcloud with this initiative, or are you taking it on your own?
Thank you so much, Jessica. Thank you so much, Danielle. Now, I guess we'll have to make some announcement at some point during the session, don't we? We're actually halfway through 2026, and looking back at the past year, what have been the major takeaways and the major wins for OVHcloud in the quantum space?
There's a lot of things that we delivered this year. I just mentioned on my paper, in one year we have a quantum platform since November 25. In April 26, we have Quandela, we have 15 emulators, 2,000 users for customers, and also the road map that is really ambitious about eight QPU and seven European ones. So it's really going in the right direction.
And I guess we can all understand that OVHcloud has been supporting the French quantum ecosystem from day one. Now, a lot of these local startups are reaching a critical stage when it comes to series B, series C funding rounds, which is so crucial for scaling up. Realistically, can France and Europe compete with the US and China when it comes to the massive amount of money pouring into the quantum ecosystem?
Yeah, you're right saying that it's a question of money, because on tech we're good. Now the question is about money. Just 5% of the investment in quantum goes to European companies, so it's not so much. And this is why public procurement is so important. There were different initiatives last month on the market, but also there were initiatives from the cloud providers to allow all this QPU, all these quantum computers, to be buyable by the users, by the customers.
So as always, follow the money. Someone we also want to follow is Jensen Huang. Of course, he's famous for a lot of things as founder and CEO of Nvidia, but he's also famously noticeable. A quote from Jensen a while ago said that quantum computing was useless. Now today, this tune has completely changed to "there is no quantum without GPUs." Would you say that? I guess only business fools don't change their minds.
You know, when you change your mind on the facts, it's engineering. Okay, so yes, you're right saying that two years ago he said it's 15, 30 years of innovation. Now he changed his mind, investing in some of them. Maybe we'll talk about that. And actually, because I think the vision changed, saying that, you know, the AI, the quantum, the computers, the storage, the cloud, all that has to work together. So I think this is where he is thinking about the GPUs, the place of the GPUs in all this revolution.
Which is actually another proof that on this 180-degree type of turn, Nvidia is now investing also into the French startup Alice and Bob. Would you say that is a good sign for the entire ecosystem, or is he stepping into your shoes in some ways?
No, it's a good sign. You know, there was 100 million, I think they invested in Alice and Bob. That validates the whole ecosystem. Now, you know, money is one part. It's also that innovation has to stay in Europe. Fabs, labs, all this cloud has to be developed here with the engineers. So we'll see how it will evolve.
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Klaba, O. (2026, June 19). Interview With Octave Klaba [Interview transcript]. France Quantum. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1184067/
MLA
Octave Klaba. "Interview With Octave Klaba." France Quantum, 19 Jun. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1184067/.
BibTeX
@misc{klaba2026_1184067,
author = {Octave Klaba},
title = {Interview With Octave Klaba},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, France Quantum. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jun},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1184067/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
