An EU AI factory offering cutting-edge computing power to train next-generation AI models.
Recently, the European Union (EU) has unveiled an ambitious action plan that aims to strengthen its position in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and bridge the gap with global giants such as the United States and China. Under this plan, the EU will establish a network of ‘AI factories’ and ‘gigafactories’. This initiative not only focuses on promoting technological advancement but will also drive innovation and economic growth within the EU
Main Objectives of the Action Plan
Increasing global competitiveness in AI: The EU aims to become a global leader in the development and application of AI. The creation of AI factories and gigafactories is an important step in this direction. And strengthening domestic AI infrastructure Currently the EU lags behind the United States and China in terms of data center capacity and relies heavily on infrastructure established in other regions through the cloud. The new scheme aims to reduce this dependency and create a robust domestic AI infrastructure. Promoting innovation: The scheme will encourage innovation by providing startups, industries and researchers better access to high-quality training data Ensuring compliance with the AI Act: A dedicated ‘AI Act Service Desk’ will be set up to assist regional firms in complying with the EU’s AI Act. This desk will provide a central point of information and guidance to businesses. Adopting AI in strategic sectors: The scheme aims to promote the use of AI in critical sectors such as healthcare and the public sector.
AI Factories
The AI factories will be large-scale facilities equipped with state-of-the-art graphics processing units (GPUs). These GPUs will provide the computing power needed to develop and train next-generation AI models. 13 AI factories have already been set up around the network of European High-Performance Computing (EuroHPC) supercomputers. These factories will be available to various European users such as startups, industries and researchers.
Key features of AI factories
High computing capacity: Equipped with state-of-the-art GPUs that are essential for training complex AI models. Access to data: Establishment of ‘data labs’ to collect and curate large high-quality data from various sources. Expertise and talent: Availability of staff with expertise in AI, supercomputing, software development and data science. Collaboration and innovation: Promoting collaboration between supercomputing centres, universities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industries and financial institutions. Applications across sectors: Advancing AI applications across various sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, climate, finance and space.
Gigafactories
AI gigafactories will be even larger scale facilities, with around 100,000 AI chips, four times the capacity of current AI factories. These massive computing hubs will be able to train complex AI models at an unprecedented scale. The European Commission aims to set up five AI gigafactories through public-private partnerships and other financing mechanisms. And talking about the main features of Gigafactories, ultra-high computing capacity: Large-scale data centers equipped with around 100,000 cutting-edge AI chips: Huge data storage and processing capacity for training complex AI models and Public-private partnerships: Requires both public and private investments and Strategic autonomy: Maintaining the EU’s strategic autonomy in critical industrial sectors and science and Next-generation AI models: Enabling the development and training of next-generation AI models at an unprecedented scale
InvestAI Facility
To finance the AI Gigafactories, a new facility called ‘InvestAI’ has been launched, which aims to mobilize 20 billion euros of private investment in AI infrastructure. The European Investment Bank will also participate in this initiative and Cloud and AI Development Act The European Commission will also propose the ‘Cloud and AI Development Act’, which aims to increase the EU’s data center capacity at least threefold in the next five to seven years with a priority given to highly sustainable data centers Regulatory simplification The EU aims to simplify AI regulations and ensure that the AI Act is innovation-friendly. The move comes after criticism from tech firms, who have argued that the EU rules are overly cumbersome and could stifle innovation in the sector.
Implementation and Timeline In the first round, seven consortia were selected to set up seven AI factories in Finland Germany Italy Luxembourg Sweden Spain and Greece. Six additional AI factories were selected in Austria Bulgaria France Germany Poland and Slovenia in March 2025. Agreements have already been signed with the host institutions for the AI factories, and the procurement process for the systems will be launched in the first half of 2025. AI Gigafactories to be made public
