New AIPU, Europa, Delivers Datacenter-Class AI Performance in Server Form Factors Without the Datacenter Price Tag

by Manuel Botija, VP of Product Management

Axelera® AI announces Europa®, our next-generation AI Processing Unit (AIPU) launching in the first half of 2026, purpose-built to let businesses right-size their AI deployments for demanding edge or enterprise datacenter workloads.

Europa creates a new class of AI acceleration to complement the lower-powered sibling, Metis®, extending our product portfolio to serve more demanding workloads while maintaining the outstanding power efficiency Axelera is known for. At just 45 watts, Europa delivers 3 to 5 times better performance per watt and performance per dollar efficiency than GPUs, making datacenter-class AI performance accessible for edge and enterprise server deployments.

The result? Businesses no longer need to compromise between performance and cost when deploying AI at the edge.

Why AI Needs Multiple Performance Tiers, Especially at the Edge

The future of AI extends far beyond the datacenter. While cloud solutions are driving widespread AI adoption, transformative innovation is also happening at the edge. Businesses are applying intelligence to existing infrastructure in ways that fundamentally change operations:

• Security cameras that understand threats, not just detect movement
• Manufacturing defect inspection on production lines
• Retail systems that personalize experiences in real-time, right at the point of interaction

Across industries, organizations are discovering countless opportunities to optimize their businesses with on-device AI processing. These applications can work independently or integrate seamlessly with cloud infrastructure, but the local intelligence is what unlocks capabilities and responsiveness that weren't possible before.

Here's the thing: many of these applications need local processing power. They can't wait for round trips to the cloud when split-second decisions matter. But edge deployments aren't one-size-fits-all. A single-camera quality control system has completely different requirements than a multi-user generative AI application processing dozens of video streams at once.

That's where many businesses hit a performance ceiling. Ultra-low-power edge chips work beautifully for simpler workloads. But when you need to run multi-modal AI, support multiple concurrent streams and users, or process complex AI models locally, suddenly you're looking at a gap between what edge devices can handle and what expensive datacenter solutions provide.

Until now, the answer has been GPU solutions designed for datacenters. But those come with costs, power requirements, and infrastructure demands that make edge deployment impractical.

That's the gap we designed Europa to address. It's built to handle AI workloads that are too demanding for sub-10-watt edge solutions, but don't need the expense and complexity of datacenter GPUs. Better performance where you need it, without the infrastructure overhead you don't.

Europa Enables Advanced AI Applications at the Edge

Europa is purpose-built for the demanding workloads that exist at the edge, on-device rather than in the cloud. By delivering 629 TOPS in a 45-watt, standard PCIe form factor, Europa makes demanding applications practical and affordable.

Europa is built for the applications that need higher performance per chip:

Manufacturing and industrial automation processing multiple camera streams simultaneously for quality control, or combining computer vision with generative AI for complex defect analysis.

Smart infrastructure and security running intelligent surveillance with on-prem multi-user capabilities, or managing traffic systems that need real-time vision and prediction models.

Automotive infotainment and robotics requiring multi-camera fusion, robots with integrated vision-language processing, or fleet systems with on-vehicle generative AI.

Enterprise servers and workstations supporting multi-user generative AI applications, development platforms for AI sovereignty initiatives, or accessible enterprise-grade infrastructure for research and mid-market companies.

With a single Europa chip, you get performance that would require multiple Metis chips to achieve. With integrated pre- and post-processing and a built-in hardware decoder, Europa enables high-performance AI at the edge without the need for costly CPUs, thereby lowering the solution’s total cost of ownership (TCO).

Europa builds on Metis's proven efficiency to unlock new performance territory. Delivering 5 times better performance in computer vision and up to 70 times improvement in multi-user generative AI applications, Europa creates a new tier of edge AI capabilities. This leap in performance opens entirely new categories of applications that were previously confined to datacenter deployments.

Technical Innovation Enabling Real World Value

Europa's performance advantage comes from precision-engineered innovations designed specifically for edge deployment constraints.

Integrated intelligence reduces system complexity:

• Second Generation AI Cores featuring Digital In-Memory Compute (D-IMC) deliver exceptional efficiency by supporting any AI modality such as vision, audio, or language, and a wide range of AI architectures, including CNNs, ViTs, and LLMs
• 16 RISC-V vector cores handle pre- and post-processing and an integrated H264/H.265 hardware decoder processes 4K video at 120FPS on-chip, freeing your host CPU for business logic
• Enhanced memory architecture with 128MB L2 SRAM and 200GB/s bandwidth solves the memory bottleneck

Designed for flexible deployment:

• Single-chip PCIe card configurations starting with 16GB for edge server applications
• Four-chip PCIe card systems with up to 256GB for enterprise deployments requiring maximum throughput
• Same software architecture using the Voyager SDK across all configurations for develop-once, deploy-anywhere simplicity

Open platform accelerates development:

• Voyager SDK available on GitHub empowers developers with transparent tools and resources
• Minimal code changes required when scaling from Metis to Europa platforms
• Europa will be available on the Axelera AI web store and from channel partners for easy acquisition

Choosing the Right AI Performance Tier

Axelera AI now offers performance tiers to match your specific edge AI requirements. Our platform approach means you can start with the right solution today and scale seamlessly as your needs evolve, all while using the same development tools and software stack.

The guiding principle is straightforward: Start with Metis for ultra-efficient edge deployments where power constraints are critical. Scale to Europa when your application demands server-class performance but you need to maintain edge deployment economics and form factors.

Both products share the same underlying architecture and development tools, so your investment in learning one platform transfers directly to the other.

Making Advanced AI Accessible for More Businesses

Europa embodies Axelera AI's founding mission: advanced AI capabilities for everyone building the future. By delivering 3 to 5 times better performance efficiency than traditional solutions, Europa makes applications economically viable that were previously reserved for organizations with datacenter budgets.

Key advantages:

• Performance per dollar ratio opens new application categories for mid-market companies and innovative startups
• Standard form factors mean existing IT teams can deploy and manage Europa without specialized training
• Power efficiency enables deployment where datacenter-class power infrastructure is not available or practical
• European innovation designed for global implementation

The combination of accessible pricing, familiar integration methods, and outstanding efficiency means businesses of all sizes can now deploy the AI capabilities they need to compete and innovate. When advanced AI hardware is affordable and efficient, novel solutions become possible that transform industries.

Learn More About Europa AI Processing Unit

Ready to deploy datacenter-class AI performance at the edge?

Europa begins shipping in the first half of 2026 with PCIe card configurations designed for seamless integration into your existing infrastructure. In the meantime, you can sign up for upcoming product briefs and further details or apply for the limited early access program.

Axelera AI is making advanced AI capabilities accessible to everyone building the future. Europa represents the next step in that mission, bringing powerful, efficient, and affordable AI acceleration to the deployments that will transform industries.