The German operator DE-CIX, one of the world’s leading Internet Exchange providers, has announced that its global exchange ecosystem is now “AI-ready” with the launch of the first phase of its AI Internet Exchange (AI-IX) initiative. The project places the company at the forefront of interconnection for artificial intelligence workloads—an rapidly growing sector that demands low latency, high security, and resilience.
A network designed for real-time inference
The first phase of AI-IX transforms DE-CIX into a platform capable of handling the requirements of AI inference: the process by which trained models generate responses, analysis, or automations in real-time.
More than 50 relevant AI networks are already connected, including providers of Inference-as-a-Service, GPU-as-a-Service, and various cloud services.
With 160 global cloud on-ramps and proprietary multi-AI routing technology, the company offers businesses low-latency, secure direct interconnection, available not only in Frankfurt—Europe’s largest Internet exchange point—but also across other DE-CIX locations worldwide.
The “digital triangle” of AI
Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX, explained that the expansion of multimodal AI agents and their integration into autonomous vehicles, robotic systems, and industrial applications require robust interconnection. To describe this, he coined the concept of the “AI inference digital triangle”, consisting of:
- Proliferation of AI agents.
- Devices and applications utilizing them.
- Modern transmission technologies—such as fiber, 5G Advanced, or low-earth orbit satellites.
According to Ivanov, without a secure, direct, and resilient interconnection linking these three elements, companies won’t be able to fully leverage the benefits of real-time processing.
Ultra Ethernet: the next step for distributed training
The second phase of AI-IX will focus on training AI models, a traditionally dominated field by InfiniBand architectures in large hyperscale data centers.
DE-CIX plans to enable its exchanges for Ultra Ethernet, an emerging protocol designed to deliver performance levels suitable for massive AI workloads, with the advantage of allowing distributed training across multiple facilities within a single metropolitan area.
According to Thomas King, CTO of DE-CIX, this evolution will allow companies to reduce costs, improve resilience, and build private AI infrastructures with greater flexibility. The company states its hardware is already prepared to support Ultra Ethernet, awaiting manufacturers to incorporate necessary software functions.
Implications for the future of AI and digital infrastructure
DE-CIX’s move comes at a critical time: the increasing complexity of AI models is boosting connectivity and computing capacity needs. Until now, centralized large-scale training centers dominated the sector, but distributed training is emerging as a more sustainable and efficient alternative.
With this initiative, DE-CIX positions itself as the first operator to offer an interconnection platform designed for both inference and training of AI, a step that could redefine how intelligent services are deployed at a global scale.
Three decades of interconnection
The announcement coincides with DE-CIX’s 30th anniversary, founded in 1995 in Frankfurt. Since then, the company has grown to operate in 60 locations worldwide, interconnecting over 4,000 networks across more than 100 countries and presence in 600 cities through partner data centers.
Its Frankfurt exchange point is one of the largest on the planet, with nearly 1,100 connected networks and an annual traffic approaching 45 exabytes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about DE-CIX AI-IX
What is DE-CIX’s AI-IX?
It is a new global interconnection infrastructure specifically designed to support AI workloads, starting with real-time inference and, in its second phase, distributed model training.
What role does Ultra Ethernet play in the project?
Ultra Ethernet will enable distributed AI training across multiple data centers, reducing costs and avoiding reliance on centralized architectures based on InfiniBand.
Where will AI-IX be available?
The service will be available at all DE-CIX exchange points, centered in Frankfurt, but also across Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Which companies can benefit from AI-IX?
From cloud and telecom service providers to companies offering GPU-as-a-Service or developing AI agents. It’s also relevant to sectors like automotive, robotics, health, or Industry 4.0, where ultra-low latency is crucial.