The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) has selected seven proposals to establish and operate the first AI Factories across Europe, a key step in boosting the region’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This initiative, backed by a EUR 1.5 billion investment, combines EU and national funding, with the aim to double Europe’s AI computing capacity. Half of this amount will be funded by the EU through the Digital Europe Programme for AI infrastructure and Horizon Europe for AIF services.
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Locations and Participating Nations
"The EU is now one step closer to realising President Ursula von der Leyen's commitment to setting up the first AI Factories," the European Commission said in a statement on December 10 (Tuesday).
The selected AI Factories will be hosted at research and technology hubs across Europe. The locations include Barcelona (Spain) at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Bologna (Italy) at CINECA, Kajaani (Finland) at CSC, Bissen (Luxembourg) at LuxProvide, Linkoping (Sweden) at the University of Linkoping, Stuttgart (Germany) at the University of Stuttgart, and Athens (Greece) at GRNET.
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AI Supercomputers:
The seven AI Factories involve 15 Member States and two EuroHPC participating States. Portugal, Romania and Turkiye have joined the BSC AIF; Austria and Slovenia have joined the ITA4LIA; and Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Poland have joined the LUMI AIF.
EU said five of the selected hosting sites will deploy new AI-optimised supercomputers, namely in Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Sweden. The AI Factory in Spain will result from the upgrade of the existing EuroHPC system, MareNostrum 5.
In Greece, an AI Factory will be established and operated, associated with the DAEDALUS supercomputer, a EuroHPC supercomputer currently under deployment in Greece.
The AI Factories in Spain and Finland will also feature an experimental platform, providing a cutting-edge infrastructure for developing and testing innovative AI models and applications, and fostering collaboration across Europe.
These AI Factories will more than double EuroHPC computing capacity to drive AI research, innovation, and industrial applications, with a focus on sectors like healthcare, climate, cybersecurity, and manufacturing.
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Timeline and Future Proposals
Deployment is scheduled for 2025-2026, and additional Member States can propose new AI Factories by February 2025.
EU believes these comprehensive open AI ecosystems centered around EuroHPC supercomputing facilities will support the growth of a highly competitive and innovative AI ecosystem in Europe.
