- The European Commission announced a plan to build AI gigafactories at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025.
- The Commission has opened a call for tenders to publicly finance up to seven AI gigafactories in Europe.
- Ten countries, including Poland, have expressed interest in hosting a gigafactory.
- The European Union will fund seven artificial intelligence gigafactories across the bloc with €10 billion ($11.5 billion), as it steps up efforts to close the technology gap with the U.S. and China.
- The Commission aims to attract at least €20 billion in private investments for the projects.
- The successful projects are expected to begin physical construction of the gigafactories at the start of 2027, with facilities due to become operational by mid-2028.
The European Union is set to invest €10 billion in the construction of seven AI gigafactories, aiming to bolster its technological infrastructure and reduce dependency on external sources. This initiative follows a significant interest from ten member states, including Poland, Germany, and France.1234
The European Commission announced that the total number of planned gigafactories increased from five to seven due to strong interest from EU countries. The Commission aims to attract an additional €20 billion in private investments for these projects, which are crucial for developing advanced AI technologies.5
According to EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen, access to the raw scale of computing power within AI gigafactories is a strategic necessity for Europe as AI development accelerates. The tender process for the gigafactories will close on November 12, with successful bidders expected to be announced in early 2027. The facilities are projected to become operational within 18 months of contract signing.6
The initiative has garnered considerable interest, with 76 potential consortia expressing preliminary interest in submitting project proposals. The successful projects are expected to begin construction at the start of 2027, with operations commencing by mid-2028.
The gigafactories will be equipped with state-of-the-art chips designed to train advanced AI models, addressing growing concerns about digital dependency and the need for a sovereign AI infrastructure in Europe.
“The European Commission aims to attract at least €20 billion in private investments for the gigafactory projects, which are crucial for closing the technology gap with the U.S. and China. The tender process will close on November 12, with successful bidders expected to be announced in early 2027.”
Euronews.com
