The European Union has decided to strengthen its position in artificial intelligence by building up to five large centers. These facilities will be used to train highly complex artificial intelligence models that require enormous computing capacity. Each gigafactory will be equipped with approximately 100,000 state-of-the-art chips designed specifically for artificial intelligence. That is roughly four times more than similar existing facilities in Europe have. This initiative builds on the 19 AI factories already under construction in Europe with support from EU funds.
The aim is to reduce Europe's dependence on foreign technology and strengthen local innovation. These gigacenters will enable the development of models that could bring advances in medicine, clean technologies, and space exploration. In medicine, for example, they could help develop new drugs and environmental solutions, while in space they could improve the processing of satellite data, among other applications.
Funding
Through its InvestAI program, the European Commission has allocated €20 billion, equivalent to approximately CZK 500 billion. This amount is intended to cover the construction of gigacenters at up to five locations in the EU. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering adding further loans to attract private investors and ensure that the projects have sufficient funding.
This cooperation between the EIB and the European Commission is part of a larger plan called TechEU. By 2027, this program is intended to mobilize a total of €250 billion, or about CZK 6.25 trillion, to support innovation in Europe. The EIB Group, led by President Nadia Calviño, offers not only financing but also advisory services through the InvestEU platform to help turn ideas into real projects.
Nadia Calviño said: “Europe is a technological powerhouse. By supporting the construction of key AI gigacenters, we will create more computing power and thus the conditions for successful innovation.”
The Idea Behind the Gigacenters
Key figures behind the project include Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. She emphasized: “Artificial intelligence will advance our research and innovation and strengthen our competitiveness. We are mobilizing capital on an unprecedented scale for European AI gigafactories so that our companies and researchers can develop state-of-the-art large models that will make Europe the AI continent.”
These gigacenters will be accessible to European start-ups, researchers, and industry, meaning they will help both small businesses and large corporations. Artificial intelligence start-ups will gain access to enormous computing power that they could not afford on their own. All of this is intended to ensure that Europe will not be dependent on chips and technologies from the US or Asia.
Impact on the EU
For Europeans, this means having their own tools for developing artificial intelligence, which could lead to better applications in everyday life. Imagine faster disease diagnosis thanks to AI in hospitals or smarter environmental protection systems. In addition, the gigacenters will create jobs in the tech sector and strengthen the EU economy.
The entire project is part of a broader EU effort, such as the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), which already supports 19 smaller existing centers. The EIB Group, which includes the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, signed financing agreements worth almost €89 billion for more than 900 projects in 2024. This new plan for AI gigacenters therefore fits into the EU's long-term strategy for digital and technological development.
Source: eib.org
