AI Factories

Bridging Innovation and Trust

AI Factories are dynamic ecosystems that foster innovation, collaboration, and development in the field of AI. They bring together the necessary ingredients – computer power, data, and talent– to create cutting-edge generative AI models. They foster collaboration across Europe, linking universities, supercomputing centers, industry, and financial actors. AI factories serve as hubs driving advancements in AI applications across various sectors such as health, manufacturing, climate, finance, and more. 

The Commission has identified the establishment of AI factories as a priority, planning to launch the first ones in 2025. This initiative, highlighted in the political guidelines of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, aims to turn Europe into the "AI continent". The Commission’s goal is to set up AI Factories across Europe, reinforcing the EU commitment to advancing AI technology and innovation.

In December 2024, the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) selected seven consortia to establish the first AI Factories across Europe, marking a significant step towards the creation of a robust AI ecosystem. The seven AI Factories involve 15 Member States and 2 EuroHPC participating States: Portugal, Romania and Türkiye have joined Spain; Austria and Slovenia have joined Italy; and Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Poland have joined the Finland. With an investment of around €1.5 billion from the EU and Member States, these sites will deploy new AI-optimised supercomputers and upgrade existing systems, significantly enhancing Europe's AI capabilities.  

Background

In January 2024 a package of measures was launched to support European startups and SMEs in the development of trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) that respects EU values and rules. This is in line with the AI Act which supports the development, deployment and take-up of trustworthy AI in the EU.

This package was designed to support AI startups and innovation. It proposed an amendment to the EuroHPC Regulation enabling the establishment of AI factories. The EuroHPC infrastructure became accessible to AI-optimised supercomputers to startups and the broader innovation community.

This initiative aligns with the broader strategy of creating an ecosystem of excellence and trust in AI within the Union, leveraging initiatives like the AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) to validate and promote trustworthy AI innovations. TEFs are networks of world-class experimentation and testing sites, playing a crucial role in supporting the deployment and uptake of trustworthy AI technologies, as well as assisting European innovators in bringing their AI-powered solutions closer to market. The close interplay between AI Factories and TEFs is will further enhance the innovation ecosystem, providing pre-market validation for AI innovations developed within AI Factories.

The European AI Office collaborates closely with the EuroHPC JU and key stakeholders to coordinate actions and combine resources, encouraging investment in the development, refinement, and integration of advanced AI models into key applications.

Through the EuroHPC JU, the Commission and Member States and Associated Countries will invest a total amount of EUR 2.1 billion in acquiring new or upgrading existing EuroHPC supercomputers with AI capabilities, creating supercomputing services in AI, and developing AI-oriented microprocessors and skills support. In addition, the Commission will provide financial support for startup incubation and scale-up activities of EUR 100 million via InvestEU that would leverage an additional investment of EUR 1 billion.