The two systems, co-funded by Italy’s Ministry of University and Research through ICSC, the Italian Research Centre on HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing Computing and the European Union though EuroHPC JU, was unveiled at the DAMA Technopole in Emilia-Romagna, Italy during a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by CINECA and ICSC.
The event was attended by Anna Maria Bernini, the Italian Minister of University and Research, Roberto Viola, Director-General of the Directorate-General Communication Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) at the European Commission and Daniel Opalka, Head of Unit, Research and Innovation at the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.
These two new systems connected to Leonardo, one of the world-class EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputers, represent significant milestones that further strengthen Europe’s supercomputing, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing infrastructure, and mark an important step in building a world-class, sovereign supercomputing ecosystem in Europe.
Anders Jensen, EuroHPC JU Executive Director stated:
“Today’s inauguration shows how Europe continues to turn ambition into capability. With SOL, the new EuroHPC quantum computer and LISA, the AI-upgrade to the world-class Leonardo supercomputer, we are further strengthening our sovereign supercomputing ecosystem and giving European users new tools to innovate across AI, HPC and quantum technologies. This milestone expands opportunities for research, industry and the public sector, while reinforcing Europe’s technological leadership in strategic supercomputing domains.”
Francesco Ubertini, President of CINECA added:
“With the addition of SOL and LISA, we are delivering an integrated ecosystem built around Leonardo, designed to support a broad spectrum of workloads—from advanced AI applications to traditional HPC and emerging quantum computing. This milestone is the result of a strong national commitment by Italy—through the Ministry of University and Research, CINECA and ICSC—together with EuroHPC, aligning investments and capabilities to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty and enable a new generation of cutting-edge assets for research and innovation.”
Antonio Zoccoli, ICSC President said:
“The inauguration of LISA and the SOL quantum computer is a major step forward for Italy and Europe in advanced computing. Thanks to the strategic vision and strong commitment of the Ministry of University and Research, led by Minister Anna Maria Bernini, and in synergy with the European strategy, we are delivering a cutting-edge hybrid infrastructure integrating HPC and quantum technologies. This ecosystem will be able to strengthen technological sovereignty and the competitiveness of Italian and European research and industrial sectors. With the integration of the Pasqal quantum system into Leonardo, Italy is also positioning itself at the forefront of global innovation, providing powerful tools for scientific excellence and sustainable growth.”
SOL, the quantum acceleration for Leonardo supercomputer
Hosted and operated by CINECA in Bologna and supplied by Pasqal, the new quantum computer is based on neutral atoms, and named SOL, reflecting both Italy’s cultural heritage and the laser-based technology at the core of the system. Inspired by the Roman Sun god and the precision associated with Sol Invictus and Apollo, it highlights the central role of light and accuracy for this system.
The system’s first-generation processor will provide at least 140 qubits operating in analogue mode. The planned upgrade in 2027, which will transition the system towards a hybrid analogue/digital paradigm, will create additional value for European end-users.
Utilising arrays of optically trapped atoms and programmable laser interactions, SOL will enable the exploration of quantum many-body physics, optimisation problems, and machine learning applications.
Integrated into Leonardo, SOL will also enhance hybrid quantum-classical HPC workflows and make next-generation computing resources available to a wide range of European users, spanning from the scientific community to industry and the public sector.
The system is currently undergoing calibration and is expected to provide compute resources to European end-users by autumn.
LISA, upscaling IT4LIA AI Factory capabilities
The LISA upgrade incorporates an AI-optimised partition into Leonardo, hosted and operated by CINECA in Bologna and will allow for more AI applications to be processed. It will better support the development of Large Language Models and multi-modal generative AI, as well as considerably extend the overall AI capacity of system.
LISA is the first EuroHPC computing partition designed from the ground up specifically for AI workloads. It is specifically engineered to address the demanding computational, memory, and networking requirements of next-generation AI models. The upgrade, provided by Bull, integrates a compute partition featuring 166 advanced 8-way GPU servers (1,328 GPUs in total) fully interconnected and significantly boosting the supercomputer’s performance for AI-intensive tasks.
The LISA upgrade will complement the operations of IT4LIA, the EuroHPC AI Factory currently centred around Leonardo, strengthening Europe's capacity for AI research, innovation, and industrial applications. Under the IT4LIA initiative, a new AI optimised supercomputing system is currently being deployed, following the recent contract signing with E4 Computer Engineering and Dell Technologies, the selected vendors. This new system will be co-funded by Italy’s Ministry of University and Research (Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca – MUR) and the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN),
The LISA upgrade is expected to become available to users during the summer of 2026.
Background
The procurement contract for SOL was signed in March 2025 with Pasqal, following a call for tender launched in August 2024. SOL is co-funded with a total acquisition cost of EUR 13 million. The EuroHPC JU will fund 50% of the costs, while the other 50% will be funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) through ICSC, the Italian Research Centre on HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing, established in the framework of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR/RRF funds). The EuroQCS-Italy consortium is led by CINECA and includes the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) and the Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) in Germany.
To date, the EuroHPC JU has procured six quantum computers, located across Europe. The five first systems have already been inaugurated since last year:
- PIAST-Q in Poznań, Poland in June 2025,
- VLQ in Ostrava, Czechia in October 2025,
- Euro-Q-Exa in Munich, Germany in February 2026,
- Lucy near Paris, France in April 2026 and
- EuroQCS-Spain in Barcelona, Spain in Mai 2026.
The EuroHPC JU signed the procurement contract for LISA with Bull in May 2025, following a call for tender launched in September 2024. The deployment of LISA was conceived as the upgrade of the Leonardo supercomputer and as a core building block of the IT4LIA AI Factory.
The deployment of LISA represents an investment of EUR 50 million, covering both the acquisition and installation of the infrastructure as well as the resources required for its operation and support. This investment is co-founded by the EuroHPC JU together with Italy through Italy’s Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and ICSC.
About EuroHPC JU
The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity that brings together the European Union and participating countries to coordinate efforts and pool resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.
The EuroHPC JU has already procured 12 supercomputers, located across Europe. It includes Leonardo, based on Bull’s HPC architecture (BullSequana XH2000 technology), which holds 10th place globally with 241,2 petaflops, a ranking it has maintained since November 2022.
The scientific community and industry users all from Europe regardless of their location can access EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls. This access allows them to speed up progress in technology, science and support the development of a wide range of applications that will benefit Europe.
The EuroHPC JU is developing and operating 19 AI factories across Europe – including IT4LIA – that offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups, with the possibility to access advance AI computing resources through the AI Factories Access Modes. These comprehensive open AI ecosystems centred around EuroHPC supercomputing facilities are supporting the growth of a highly competitive and innovative AI ecosystem in Europe.
The EuroHPC JU also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain, from processors and software to applications to be run on these supercomputers and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise.
With the recent adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU’s mandate has been expanded with new action pillars dedicated to the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe and the advancement of quantum technologies.
Details
- Publication date
- 11 June 2026
- Author
- European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking