The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking launches the AI Gigafactories Call

The EuroHPC JU and several of its Participating States will jointly procure compute access time from the selected AI Gigafactories. These facilities represent a major investment in Europe's AI future, strengthening technological leadership, resilience and strategic autonomy through cutting-edge AI computing infrastructure built and operated in Europe.

AI Gigafactories, together with AI Factories, will make AI computing and services available to public and private users resident in EuroHPC Participating States, significantly expanding current available compute capacity through a new generation of large-scale sovereign AI computing infrastructure, strengthening innovation, competitiveness and technological independence.

The AI Gigafactories will be advanced industrial AI facilities. Located in EU countries, they will combine massive computing power with state-of-the-art AI processors along with the necessary software and cloud technology stacks, high bandwidth connectivity and energy-efficient data centres. 

Led by industry, the AIGFs will strengthen Europe's AI ecosystem by expanding computing capacity and driving a service-oriented model that will enable large-scale frontier AI training, fine-tuning, and inference services making it easier and more affordable for public and private sector users. 

Who can apply

Applications are open to Consortia or Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) bringing together companies, public entities, investors and other partners.

AIGFs may be established in a single Member State, either on one site or across several locations, including cross-border developments in several Member States, through distributed AI computing facilities.

Following the submission deadline on 12 November 2026, proposals will undergo a competitive evaluation to select the successful projects.

Apply via the EU Tenders & Funding Portal

Funding Model

The procurement strategy is designed to support both the initial deployment and future expansion of the AIGF infrastructure to a massive AI compute and service facility.  The joint public funding provided by the Union and Member States will act as an anchor customer, significantly de-risking the significant capital required and helping to unlock expected total private investment of more than €20 billion across the EU.

Following their selection in early 2027, the AIGFs are expected to begin operations within 18 months. 

This procurement will support the establishment of up to seven AI Gigafactories, each equipped with a very large number of state-of-the-art AI processors. These facilities are expected to be located in at least seven Member States, with the possibility of some AIGFs able to operate as cross-border collaboration that deploy infrastructure across one or more Member States.

Successful AIGF projects will receive different levels of EU and national co-funding, reflecting the size and range of sovereign services that they will be deploying Part of the public financing will be covered under this MFF, whereas the bulk of the funds will come from the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2035).

More information is available in the tender documents.

Background

The AI Gigafactories initiative represents the next step in Europe's strategy to expand its sovereign AI computing capacity. It complements the AI Factories initiative and reflects Europe's growing ambition to provide the computing infrastructure needed to develop the next generation of AI technologies.

AI Gigafactories will offer a complete AI computing environment, combining AI-optimised supercomputers with advanced data centres, high-capacity storage, ultra-fast networks, secure cloud access and specialised AI support services.

They will provide the computing power needed to develop and train advanced AI models, serving researchers, public-sector organisations and businesses across Europe, with a particular focus on start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs.

About the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is a joint initiative of the European Union and participating countries that pools resources to make Europe a global leader in supercomputing.

It has already deployed 12 world-class supercomputers across Europe, including JUPITER in Germany and Alice Recoque in France, Europe's first exascale systems.

Researchers, industry and public-sector users throughout Europe can access these systems through EuroHPC Access Calls to advance scientific research and develop applications with industrial and societal impact.

Currently, the EuroHPC JU is also overseeing the implementation of 19 AI factories (AIF) across Europe, complemented by 13 AI Factory Antennas, to offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups. 

The EuroHPC JU is also building Europe's quantum computing infrastructure by integrating European quantum technologies with its supercomputers, while investing in research and innovation across the entire European supercomputing value chain—from processors and software to applications and skills.

Following the adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU's mandate has been expanded to include the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe and the advancement of quantum technologies.

Additional Links

https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/aigf-call