Core42 and Assolombarda sign MoU on sovereign AI for Lombardy firms
Core42, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure unit of G42, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Assolombarda, the Italian industrial association representing businesses across Milan, Monza and Brianza, Lodi and Pavia. The agreement establishes a knowledge-sharing framework to accelerate AI adoption across Lombardy's manufacturing base while addressing data governance and sovereignty requirements.
The partnership centres on Assolombarda's forgIA initiative, described as a secure and interoperable industrial data environment designed to enable cross-company data sharing and the development of sector-specific AI applications. Under the MoU, Core42 will provide technical guidance on sovereign-enabled cloud and AI architecture, drawing on experience from deployments in the UAE. Member companies will gain access to workshops, roundtables, webinars and a dedicated advisory channel within the forgIA platform, as well as introductions to technology partners across the G42 ecosystem.
The deal
Talal M. Al Kaissi, chief executive of Core42, framed the agreement in operational terms. "For industrial businesses, sovereignty means keeping control of their data and meeting their governance requirements while gaining access to advanced AI capabilities," he said. "This MoU marks the start of that collaboration."
Alvise Biffi, president of Assolombarda, described digital transition and data sovereignty as "the central challenges for the future competitiveness of businesses" and said the partnership would give member companies "concrete, secure tools to drive the adoption of Artificial Intelligence." He also noted that the agreement extends a decade of Assolombarda's engagement in Gulf Cooperation Council markets, building on the association's January 2026 opening of a dedicated space within the Hub for Made in Italy in Abu Dhabi.
The MoU is non-binding in the typical sense of such frameworks: no contract value, revenue commitment, or deployment timeline was disclosed. The release does not name any specific member company that has committed to piloting Core42 infrastructure through forgIA.
Market context
The agreement reflects a broader pattern of Gulf-based sovereign cloud providers expanding into European industrial markets, where regulatory pressure around data residency and AI governance is intensifying. The EU AI Act's obligations for general-purpose AI systems are phasing in through 2026 and 2027, and Italian manufacturers operating in regulated sectors face additional scrutiny under NIS2 and the DORA framework if they serve financial-sector clients.
Sovereign cloud is a contested and sometimes loosely defined category. Hyperscalers including Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud have all launched sovereign cloud offerings targeted at European public-sector and critical-infrastructure customers, while a number of specialist European providers, including OVHcloud and T-Systems, compete specifically on EU data-residency grounds. Core42's differentiation rests on its G42 heritage and its claimed experience deploying AI at national scale in the UAE, a proposition that will need to be translated into recognised European compliance certifications, such as ISO 27001 or the emerging EUCS cloud-security scheme under ENISA, to convert into signed enterprise contracts.
Lombardy's industrial ecosystem spans automotive supply chains, precision engineering, pharmaceuticals and financial services, sectors with varying appetites for third-party AI infrastructure. Assolombarda's network of more than 7,000 companies and 440,000 workers gives Core42 substantial reach, but converting that network into active AI deployments will depend on whether forgIA can demonstrate interoperability with existing ERP and manufacturing-execution systems and whether Core42 can offer commercially competitive terms to mid-market manufacturers with limited in-house AI expertise.