EU Expands Supercomputing Services with AI Initiative

The European Council has announced an expansion of its EuroHPC joint undertaking for boosting Europe’s leadership in AI. The new objective calls for the development of “AI factories” that will provide infrastructure for startups and other organizations to create and test AI models. The European Commission defines AI factories as “dynamic ecosystems that foster innovation, collaboration, and development in the field of AI. They bring together the necessary ingredients – computer power, data, and talent– to create cutting-edge generative AI models. They serve as hubs driving advancements in AI applications across various key domains, from health to energy, and from manufacturing to meteorology.” More specifically, a factory will consist of an AI-ready supercomputer, along with an accompanying data center and a collection of AI-related services.

Entities hosting an AI factory can receive an EU contribution covering up to 50% of the acquisition costs for AI supercomputers and up to 50% of the operating costs. The EU will initially retain an ownership stake that will be transferred to the hosting entity five years after the AI factory is operational and passes an acceptance test.

See the press release at the European Council website for additional information.