The European Commission (EC) has launched its AI Continent Action Plan, a five-pillar plan that includes policies to strengthen AI and supercomputing across the continent via a network of AI factories.

The EC also plans to establish a number of AI gigafactories that will house around 100,000 next-generation AI chips – four times more than the current AI factories hold – and will propose a Cloud and AI Development Act in an effort to triple the EU’s data center capacity by 2032.

Thirteen AI factories have already been deployed to support some of the continent’s supercomputers, seven of which were announced at the end of 2024.

These factories include BSC AIF at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Spain; IT4LIA at CINECA at the Bologna Tecnopolo, Italy; LUMI AIF at CSC, Finland; HammerHAI at the University of Stuttgart, Germany; Meluxina-AI at LuxProvide, Luxembourg; Pharos at GRNET, Greece; and MIMER at the University of Linköping, Sweden.

Spain will also see its MareNostrum 5 system upgraded to an AI factory, with a second factory set to be established in Greece in association with the DAEDALUS supercomputer. The factories represent a collaborative effort between 15 member states and two EuroHPC participating states and are the result of a €1.5 billion ($1.6bn) investment, combining national and EU funding.

Meanwhile, the EC said that private investment in the AI gigafactories will be “stimulated through the InvestAI, which will mobilise €20 billion ($22bn) investment for up to five AI gigafactories across the Union.”

Launched by President Ursula von der Leyen in February 2025, InvestAI is an initiative to mobilize €200 billion ($209bn) for investment in AI, including a new European fund of €20bn ($20.9bn) for the AI gigafactories.

The AI Action Plan’s other pillars include increasing access to large and high-quality data; developing algorithms and fostering AI adoption in strategic EU sectors; strengthening AI skills and talents; and regulatory simplification.

“Artificial intelligence is at the heart of making Europe more competitive, secure and technologically sovereign. The global race for AI is far from over. [The] time to act is now,” said Henna Virkkunen, EVP for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy. “This Action Plan outlines key areas where efforts need to intensify to make Europe a leading AI Continent. We are working towards a future where tech innovation drives industry and public services forward, bringing concrete benefits to our citizens and businesses through trustworthy AI.”

EuroHPC JU issues call for AI factory antennas

Elsewhere, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has also issued a call for proposals for the selection of entities or consortia of entities to establish AI factory antennas.

The AI factory antennas will work in coordination with the AI factories, with each antenna supporting an established factory from its respective country, “extending and complementing” services and ensuring “remote computing access to AI-optimized supercomputing resources from the linked AI factory.”

The EuroHPC JU further noted that, where relevant, an AI factory antenna would also provide small-scale AI compute resources for the fine-tuning, testing, and validation of AI applications.

Launched in 2018 and headquartered in Luxembourg, EuroHPC JU is a joint initiative between the EU, 35 European countries, and private partners to develop a supercomputing ecosystem in Europe. It has helped fund the deployment of nine supercomputers and multiple quantum computers to date.

The deadline for proposals is July 9, 2025. A total budget of €70 million ($77m) has been set aside to fund the project, with the EU able to contribute up to €5m ($5.6m) under the Horizon Europe funding program for each individual AI Factory Antenna.