The first seven proposals for artificial intelligence (AI) Factories have been submitted under the EU’s EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU), the European Commission announced on Monday.
The AI Factories are aimed at creating a thriving European ecosystem for training advanced AI models and developing AI solutions. They are to be built around a world-class EU network of ‘European High-Performance Computing’ (HPC) supercomputers and will be bringing together what are seen as the key ingredients for success in AI: computing power, data and talent.
The Commission says the AI Factories will substantially increase the computing power available for AI in Europe. They will be interconnected and available to European AI startups, industry and researchers.
The seven proposals submitted in total by 15 Member States and two associated participating states demonstrate a very strong interest in this important initiative. Proposals to build an AI Factory around an existing or a new supercomputer adapted to AI needs were submitted by Finland (together with the participation of Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Poland), Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, Italy (together with the participation of Austria and Slovenia), and Greece. Furthermore, Spain has prepared a proposal with the participation of Portugal, Romania and Turkey which is expected imminently.
The submitted proposals will now be evaluated by an independent panel of experts. The EuroHPC JU expects to announce the selection of the first AI Factories in December 2024 and launch them soon thereafter.
In addition to the above proposals, Cyprus and Slovenia have submitted letters of interest to either join or create an AI Factory at a later stage. The next cut-off date for the subsequent proposals is the 1st of February 2025.
The EU is now a step closer to setting up the first AI Factories in early 2025, as announced in the political guidelines of the Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen.
