ND-Cloud: Google Platform for German Intelligence Draws Fire

Germany's intelligence services are set to receive a shared platform for exchanging classified data, and the provider is Google. The so-called ND-Cloud would serve the foreign intelligence service BND, the military counterintelligence agency MAD and the domestic intelligence service, the Verfassungsschutz. The plan has triggered sharp criticism in the debate over digital sovereignty.

What the ND-Cloud is

The ND-Cloud is not a conventional public or private cloud instance. It is an air-gapped version of Google Distributed Cloud, meaning it is disconnected from the internet. The aim is to make cooperation between the agencies easier.

Critics nonetheless see a dependency. Google software remains Google software, the argument goes: if the US company tied updates to conditions the agencies cannot or will not meet, fast data exchange would be at risk.

Alternatives exist

The criticism comes at a time when German politics has moved noticeably on digital sovereignty. Multimillion-euro contracts with Microsoft have been questioned, and pilot projects in the administrations of Schleswig-Holstein and Berlin put open source first. Microsoft itself adjusted its offering for the European market.

At the Smart Country Convention in Berlin, the Center for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration (Zendis) presented a new version of its collaboration suite Opendesk. It integrates agentic AI and is meant to be air-gap capable. It was designed explicitly for public authorities. The encrypted messenger Element, based on Matrix, is already in productive use by German agencies.

Where non-European vendors remain necessary

In some areas, working with non-European companies is still unavoidable. No one in the EU currently builds AI accelerators that can compete with Nvidia, Google or Huawei. Where alternatives exist, however, the state should act as an anchor customer, which would strengthen the German and European economy and let agencies assemble interoperable open-source tools to their needs. For exchanges with foreign counterparts, the argument runs, Google could still be an option.