VivoPower Signs Definitive Heads of Agreement with Open Innovation AI to Develop Secure Sovereign AI Data Centers Across the Nordics, Mainland Europe, the GCC and selective countries in Asia
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Agreement signed at Sheikh Zayed Museum inAbu Dhabi pairs VivoPower’s powered land and data center infrastructurecapabilities with Open Innovation AI’s sovereign AI orchestration and securityplatform.
The partners see a sovereign AI opportunityof more than 40GW alone in Europe, across government administration, defence,medical, educational and financial services sovereign cloud and will target atleast 1GW of capacity over the next three years, with further demand across theGCC and Asia
VivoPower to lead site development, powerprocurement and facility operations; Open Innovation AI to provide theorchestration, AI operations and security layer
Builds on Open Innovation AI’s track record,experience designing, deploying and operating sovereign AI platforms forgovernment and enterprise environments and clients in the UAE
LONDON,UK / ABU DHABI, UAE – [21] October 2026 – VivoPower PLC (Nasdaq: VIVO) (“VivoPower” or the“Company”), a leading B Corp-certified global developer and owner of poweredland and data center infrastructure for AI compute applications, todayannounced that it has executed definitive heads of agreement (“Agreement”) withOpen Innovation AI (“OI”), the UAE-based AI orchestration, operations andsecurity platform company to jointly explore and develop secure sovereign AI Data Centersacross the Nordics, Mainland Europe, the GCC and selective countries in Asia.
TheAgreement was signed at Sheikh Zayed Museum in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, [21]October 2026, in the presence of senior leadership from both companies. Thesigning in the UAE capital reflects Abu Dhabi’s growing role as a global hubfor sovereign AI, and the ambition of both partners to take that model to newmarkets.
Demandfor AI compute is growing faster than the power, land and platforms availableto host it. Governments and enterprises increasingly want capacity that remainsunder their control, with sovereignty over infrastructure, data, models and AIservices, supported by strong cyber security and governance. The collaborationcombines VivoPower's expertise in securing power and developing data centerinfrastructure with Open Innovation AI's orchestration, AI operations andsecurity capabilities.
Under theAgreement, the two companies will work together to originate and deliver AIdata center projects with control and security embedded from design tooperation. Open Innovation AI brings its Full Stack AI Fabric, combiningorchestration and scheduling, AI and ML operations, agentic workflows, agentharness and AI security into one platform. VivoPower brings site sourcing andacquisition, site development, power and facility operations, and local marketmunicipality and sovereign relationships.
Whatsovereign cloud means
Sovereigncloud is AI and cloud infrastructure that a nation, and the organizations ittrusts, can fully control. In a conventional public cloud, data, models andoperations can ultimately be subject to foreign jurisdiction,foreign-controlled operators or a single vendor’s technology. A sovereign cloudkeeps every critical layer secure under local law and local control:
· Sovereigninfrastructure: the land, power, buildingsand compute are located in-country and owned or controlled by domestic ortrusted partners.
· Datasovereignty: data is stored andprocessed within national borders, governed by local law and protected fromextraterritorial access.
· Operationalsovereignty: the platform is run,monitored and supported by trusted local teams, and can operate in privatecloud, on-premises or fully air-gapped environments.
· Technologysovereignty: governments and enterprisescontrol the software stack, models and security, without lock-in to any singleforeign provider or hardware vendor.
SovereignAI applies these principles across the full AI lifecycle, from GPUorchestration and model training to the AI applications and agents that powerpublic services, critical national infrastructure, defence, healthcare, financeand industry.
A largeand growing opportunity
Demandfor sovereign AI capacity is accelerating rapidly at a time when sovereigns arerealising they have limited excess power for their own sovereign cloud needs,let alone to allocate to hyperscalers and AI companies. Governments are moving to secure their owncompute, and power has become the prerequisite. Without secured, scalable powerthere can be no sovereign AI, which makes powered land the starting point ofevery sovereign AI project. In addition, Governments need development partnersto deliver the AI infrastructure and they need a technology and orchestrationpartner to deliver the sovereign cloud. Againstthis backdrop, VivoPower and Open Innovation AI see an initial opportunity ofmore than 40GW in Europe alone and will target at least 1GW of capacity overthe next three years, with further demand across the GCC and Asia. ThroughVivoPower’s existing assets, Nordic pipeline and sovereign relationships,together with OI’s track record of orchestration sovereign cloud solutions, thePartnership will seek to become the leading AI sovereign solution forgovernments in the target jurisdictions.
What the agreement covers
The Agreement sets out the framework for thecollaboration. The parties intend to progressindividual projects under separate, project-specific agreements, withdefinitive documentation to follow in due course.
As afirst step, VivoPower has partnered with Open Innovation AI to deploy itssoftware solutions, covering orchestration, AI operations and security, across VivoPower’sportfolio and Nordic pipeline..
OpenInnovation AI's role builds on the sovereign AI know-how it has developed inthe UAE, one of the world's earliest and most ambitious adopters of sovereigncloud. The company has designed, deployed and operated AI labs and platformsfor government and enterprise environments where local control, security andoperational governance are critical. That experience gives the partnership apractical foundation to support projects across the targeted jurisdictions.
A naturalfit of ambitions
Thepartnership is also a natural fit of ambitions. VivoPower is pursuinglarge-scale growth as a global developer of AI-ready power and data centerinfrastructure for sovereigns. Open Innovation AI is expanding itsorchestration and security platform well beyond the UAE into internationalmarkets. Together, the companies intend to combine powered infrastructure withthe software layer required to run AI safely, efficiently and under fullsovereign control.
The aimis simple: give nations and enterprises a faster path from powered land toproduction-ready AI capacity that remains secure, governed and locallycontrolled. This inturn will drive sovereign prosperity and national security.
Why thepartnership is positioned to win
Today,most governments building sovereign AI capacity must bring together powerdevelopers, builders, hardware suppliers, cloud providers and software vendorsthemselves, and often still depend on foreign hyperscalers for the criticalsoftware layer. The US cloud act means European sovereigns in particular need aneutral solution and those developed in Abu Dhabi are some of the most advancedin the world. VivoPower and Open Innovation AI offer a different model:
· Onepartner from site to service: a single,integrated offering that covers powered land, data center development andoperations, and the orchestration, AI operations and security platform, withclear accountability from day one.
· Powerwhere it is scarcest: access topower is now the main constraint on new AI capacity. VivoPower brings poweredland and data center infrastructure across Norway, Finland and the UAE, and apipeline of sites with access to low-cost power.
· A provensovereign platform: OpenInnovation AI has designed, deployed and operated its platform for governmentcritical infrastructure and enterprise environments in the UAE, where localcontrol, security and governance are essential.
· Independentand hardware-agnostic: theSovereign AI Fabric runs across private cloud, on-premises and air-gappedenvironments and is not tied to any single hardware vendor or hyperscaler, sonations keep control of their technology choices.
· Fastertime to production: pairingready sites with a pre-integrated software stack shortens the path fromenergized site to production-ready AI capacity.
· Securityby design: cyber security andgovernance are embedded from facility design through to the AI models andagents running on the platform.
A partnership across four regions
VivoPowerand Open Innovation AI will focus on four regions where demand for sovereign AIcapacity is accelerating:
· The Nordics:building on VivoPower’s existing asset in Mo i Rana, Norway and its proprietarypipeline across the Nordics.
· The GCC: building on Open Innovation AI's home base in the UAE andVivoPower's regional presence in Abu Dhabi to support national AI strategiesacross the Gulf and wider region.
· Mainland Europe: helping European governments and industry meet growingrequirements for AI capacity, cyber security, data sovereignty and operationalcontrol under European governance.
· Selective Asian Countries: serving fast-growing markets investing indomestic AI capability, cyber-resilient infrastructure and strategic digitalindependence, in jurisdictions that are supportive of AI infrastructuredevelopment and where VivoPower has a sourcing advantage through low-costpower.
AlexCuppage, Chief Investment Officer of VivoPower PLC, said:“VivoPower is committed to working with nations as their most trusted long-termand aligned AI infrastructure partner to deliver leading sovereign AIinfrastructure. We believe that sovereigns who develop leading AIinfrastructure, supported by a secure and full stack sovereign cloud solutionwill drive national prosperity and security. In most cases, allocations of anation’s natural resources of power and water to sovereign cloud represents thehighest and best use. The UAE isglobally seen as one of the most advanced nations utilising sovereign compute.We are delighted to establish this partnership with Open Innovation AI, aproven sovereign AI orchestration and security platform, offering governmentsand enterprises a complete path from site to secure AI service. Signing this agreementin Abu Dhabi, at the heart of the region’s AI ambition, is a fitting start. Weare excited to work together with sovereigns across the Nordics, MainlandEurope, the GCC and Asia to help develop their compute power infrastructure,which will equate to national prosperity and national security.”
Kevin Chin,Executive Chairman and CEO, VivoPower Plc, said: "SovereignAI needs more than power and buildings. It needs a trusted, secure platform torun on. Our partnership with Open Innovation AI lets VivoPower offer sovereignsa complete solution, from powered land to production-ready AI. It is an importantstep in building VivoPower into a leading independent sovereign AIinfrastructure partner, and in creating long-term value for our shareholdersacross our existing portfolio and near-term pipeline."
Dr. Abed Benaichouche, Co-Founder and CEO of Open Innovation AI,said: “Sovereign AI is not onlyabout compute capacity; it is about securing and controlling the technologylayer that allows governments and enterprises to run AI safely, locally and atscale. VivoPower shares our belief that every nation should control its ownintelligence. Together, we can bring secure AI Data Centers online fasteracross the Nordics, Mainland Europe, the GCC and Asia, and take the UAE’s AIexpertise to new markets.”
About Open Innovation AI
Open Innovation AI is aUAE-based technology company helping enterprises adopt AI through its SovereignAI Fabric, a hardware-agnostic platform for building, deploying, and operatingAI. Runtime Fabric provides a production-ready Kubernetes foundation purpose-builtfor AI environments. Engine Fabric orchestrates GPUs and manages AI workloadsfrom development through deployment. Agent Fabric helps organizations build andoperate agentic applications. Security Fabric tests, governs, monitors, andsecures AI models, agents, and applications. Designed for private cloud,on-premises, and air-gapped environments, the platform gives organizationscontrol over their infrastructure, data, models, and AI operations.
Forward-LookingStatements
Thiscommunication includes certain statements that may constitute"forward-looking statements" for purposes of the U.S. federalsecurities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,statements that refer to projections, forecasts, or other characterizations offuture events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions. The words"anticipate," "believe," "continue,""could," "estimate," "expect," "intends,""may," "might," "plan," "possible,""potential," "predict," "project,""should," "would" and similar expressions may identifyforward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that astatement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include, forexample, statements about the collaboration between VivoPower and OpenInnovation AI, the deployment of Open Innovation AI’s software solutions at theMo i Rana site, the negotiation and execution of definitive or project-specificagreements, the origination, development and delivery of AI data centerprojects in the Nordics, Mainland Europe, the GCC and Asia, the expectedbenefits of the collaboration, the size of the sovereign AI opportunity and ofthe parties’ potential project pipeline, demand for sovereign AI capacity, orthe benefits of the events or transactions described in this communication.These statements are based on VivoPower's management's current expectations orbeliefs and are subject to risk, uncertainty, and changes in circumstances.Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by thestatements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive and/orregulatory factors, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operationof VivoPower's business. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies includechanges in business conditions, fluctuations in customer demand, changes inaccounting interpretations, management of rapid growth, intensity ofcompetition from other providers of products and services, changes in generaleconomic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, and otherfactors set forth in VivoPower's filings with the United States Securities andExchange Commission. Specifically in relation to the Heads of Agreement, theHeads of Agreement do not by themselves commit either party to any specificproject, and there can be no assurance that project-specific agreements will beentered into, or that any project will proceed on the terms contemplated, onthe anticipated timing, or at all. The development of any project is subjectto, among other things, the availability of suitable sites, power andfinancing, customer and government demand, and regulatory and other approvals,the timing of which is outside the control of the Company. The information setforth herein should be read in light of such risks. VivoPower is under noobligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter itsforward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, futureevents, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
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