EU announced a tender for the construction of seven artificial intelligence gigafactories

AI gigafactories are large computing centers equipped with specialized modern chips. They will be used to train the latest artificial intelligence models, including large language models capable of processing trillions of data units.

The project is part of the EU's strategy to achieve technological sovereignty. Europe aims to reduce its dependence on foreign providers of cloud services, computing infrastructure, and chips.

The plan for creating European gigafactories was first presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the AI Action summit in Paris in February 2025. The initiative generated great interest: 76 companies have preliminarily expressed interest in participating.

Initially, the EU considered building four or five such facilities, but later the number was increased to seven. This is due both to the large number of applications from businesses and the desire to ensure a more even geographical distribution of computing capacities.

The total volume of investments is estimated at approximately 30 billion euros. About 5 billion euros should be allocated by the European Union itself, another 5 billion by the participating countries of the project, and approximately 20 billion euros should be provided by private investors.

At the same time, the EU's financial participation has significantly decreased compared to initial plans. Initially, the European Commission stated its readiness to direct up to 20 billion euros towards the project, but later the state's share was reduced to approximately one-third of the total investments.

The procurement procedure will proceed in two consecutive phases. This should allow for a gradual increase in computing capacities over the next six and a half years.

In the current budget, the EU can only guarantee approximately 1 billion euros. The remaining public funds are expected within the framework of the next multiannual financial program of the EU, which is still subject to negotiations between member states.

In exchange for public investments, the EU and participating countries will receive a corresponding share of access to computing capacities. They will be able to use them for state projects, scientific research, and the operation of artificial intelligence laboratories.

Operating costs should be borne by private companies. The European Commission expects that the gigafactories will be financially sustainable thanks to commercial services, as the demand for AI development capacities currently significantly exceeds supply.

Ten countries have already expressed interest in hosting gigafactories: Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Both individual states and international consortia will be able to participate in the tender. France has already indicated its intention to implement its own project independently.

At the same time, the project has faced criticism. One of the problems is that the creation of European AI infrastructure will still depend on foreign manufacturers of specialized chips. The European Commission has already signed memoranda of cooperation with Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm.

The tender conditions also include measures to prevent excessive dependence on a single technology provider.

Brussels acknowledges this contradiction: Europe wants to develop its own capacities but cannot wait for the full creation of its own technological base and must develop AI now.

According to the current schedule, the tender winners should begin the physical construction of gigafactories in early 2027. The launch of the first facilities into operation is planned for mid-2028.

• 4
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0