The European Union has unveiled an ambitious initiative to narrow its technological gap with the United States and China by accelerating the development of next-generation artificial intelligence in Europe. Under the proposed scheme, the EU plans to establish seven so-called AI giga-factories across the continent.
To support this endeavour, the European Commission has earmarked around €10 billion in public funding. The Commission is also aiming to attract an additional €20 billion in private investment, potentially raising the total investment to more than €30 billion.
Each giga-factory is set to house state-of-the-art data centres equipped with over 100,000 high-performance AI chips. These centres will serve as hubs for researchers, businesses, and start-ups to develop and train new AI models. The initiative is expected to drive innovation in areas such as healthcare, industry, research, and mobility.
The original plan envisaged five giga-factories, but due to higher-than-expected interest from member states, the number has now been increased to seven. Ten countries have formally expressed interest in hosting or participating in the initiative: Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. The call is open to both individual countries and cross-border consortia. France has already announced its intention to submit a solo bid.
Applications will be accepted until 12 November. The selected projects are expected to be announced in early 2027, with the new centres due to become operational approximately 18 months later.
