SUSE and Openchip partner
SUSE and Openchip & Software Technologies S.L., a developer of high-performance RISC-V compute accelerators, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on Europe's first enterprise-grade sovereign technology stack spanning from RISC-V-based hardware architectures to open source software. The partnership aims to ensure SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, SUSE Kubernetes Engine (RKE2), SUSE Rancher Prime, and SUSE AI Factory enable the high performance of Openchip's upcoming hardware and software.
"Our enterprise customers require predictable infrastructure that complies with evolving European data regulations,” said Andreas Prins, Global Head Sovereign Solutions at SUSE. “By collaborating early with Openchip, we ensure that when their RISC-V hardware hits the market, the software stack - from the Linux operating system to Kubernetes container management - will be fully optimized, secure, and ready for deployment."
"Building advanced RISC-V compute accelerators is only half the equation; those chips need a reliable, enterprise-grade software ecosystem to fully realise deployment goals for data center, supercompute, public and critical sector organizations,” said Robin Giller, Chief Product Officer at Openchip. “Partnering with SUSE allows us to provide a complete, regionally sourced and competitive hardware and software solution that fits seamlessly into existing data center workflows."
While many European organizations use software layers that are built using open source, their underlying infrastructure frequently relies on proprietary silicon architectures developed outside of Europe.
This can expose critical environments to geopolitical friction, trade constraints, and international semiconductor supply chain disruptions. By pairing SUSE’s open source software and experience with European-designed open hardware architectures and products, SUSE and Openchip aim to deliver a true EU sovereign full stack hardware and software alternative. Designed in Europe, built in Europe but available to all that seek a truly sovereign choice!
Collaboration Spanning Hardware and Application Layers
Under the terms of the MoU, the parties intend to focus on several goals:
Native RISC-V Hardware Enablement: Enterprise-grade support and certification for Openchip’s RISC-V high-performance compute and accelerator devices across the SUSE software stack, including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), SUSE Rancher Prime, and community-supported openSUSE Tumbleweed.
Enterprise RVA23 Profile Integration: Support for the RVA23 profile, including RVV vector instructions for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI workloads, alongside hypervisor support for cloud environments.
SUSE Kubernetes Engine Extensions: Kubernetes plugins and operators for SUSE Rancher Prime to support fleet management, observability, and scaled container deployments on Openchip hardware.
Sovereign AI Infrastructure: A secure machine learning and inference platform pairing the SUSE AI Factory stack with Openchip's RISC-V accelerators and inference software — built for data and model residency, strict application safety, and fully sovereign deployment.
Compliance for Critical Sectors
The joint integration is designed to help organizations satisfy the data auditing, data locality, and operational resilience mandates of European regulations, including NIS2, DORA, and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
The platform is designed to serve as infrastructure for data center modernization, localized AI and supercompute rollouts, and compliance overhauls for European public sector organizations, healthcare networks, defense agencies, and critical infrastructure operators.
Openchip was selected by the European Commission as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI ME/CT) to support European industrial deployment across the microelectronics value chain, backed by €111M in EU NextGen Funds and the €240M DARE project. SUSE reinforces this foundation with its existing portfolio of enterprise Linux deployment.
