EU's AI Gigafactory Initiative Attracts Overwhelming Interest from Tech Industry

EU rattles its purse and AI datacenter builders come running

176 expressions of interest to erect 'gigafactories' across 16 member states, with 3 million GPUs needed It's pork barrel time in Europe for Nvidia (and possibly AMD) as corporations bid for a slice of the €20 billion ($23.6 billion) fund to build proposed AI Gigafactories to advance the EU's AI credentials. The European Commission (EC) says it has received an "overwhelming response" to its Call for Expression of Interest in building AI Gigafactories, as well there might be when someone is waving an open check book around. Some 76 expressions of interest to set up AI Gigafactories in 16 EU member states involving 60 different sites were submitted, the EC confirms. Respondents include global and European orgs representing datacenter operators, telecoms providers and power companies. For those not aware, AI Gigafactories are described as "state-of-the-art, large-scale AI compute and data storage hubs," basically oversized bit barns purpose built for the development of AI models and applications at scale - meaning models with hundreds of trillions of parameters. Speaking at a press conference, EC Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy Henna Virkkunen called it "an achievement that far exceeds our expectations and demonstrates Europe's growing momentum and enthusiasm for innovation in AI." Key winners from this largesse are set to be the GPU makers; the new facilities will require at least three million of the latest generation of these accelerators for AI processing, the EC said. Enough to keep Nvidia chief Jensen Huang in fancy leather jackets for some time to come. The goal of investment is for Europe to position itself as a global powerhouse in artificial intelligence. Currently the region is lagging behind the US and China in the AI model development arms race, but somewhere ahead of the Cook Islands. However, these submissions are not formal applications. Instead, they are to inform the European Commission and EU member states in mapping out the range of potential candidates available to establish AI Gigafactory facilities across the bloc, with an official call for proposals planned for the end of 2025. Business confidentiality prevents the EC from disclosing the identity of any of the respondents, but we found that German hosting firm Ionos submitted an expression of interest in the construction and operation of an AI Gigafactory, while telcos Telefónica and MasOrange are hoping to do the same in Spain. Datacenter infrastructure biz Schneider Electric also recently said it saw an opportunity in the EC's AI Continent Action Plan, the overarching initiative to set up at least 13 AI factories in addition to the AI gigafactories. Politicians in Denmark are keen on their country hosting one of the bloated bit barns, but this has proved controversial because of the power consumption such a site would involve, potentially putting pressure on the Danish electricity grid. Belgium is also understood to have proposals for an AI Gigafactory, with potential sites at Charleroi or Zellik, just outside Brussels. ®

Europe's AI gigafactory push attracts 76 bids, EU tech chief says

BRUSSELS, June 30 (Reuters) - Seventy-six companies have bid to develop Europe's artificial intelligence gigafactories, the EU's tech chief said on Monday, hailing a bigger than expected response to the bloc's push to catch up with the U.S. and China in this key technology. The European Commission made the announcement four months after it allocated 20 billion euros ($23 billion) in EU funding for the construction of four AI gigafactories across the bloc. Such facilities, in essence large-scale AI computing and data storage hubs, will be equipped with about 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips. "We got 76 submissions proposing to set up AI gigafactories in 16 member states and across 60 different sites," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told a press conference. "And this exceeds far beyond our expectations and this showcases Europe's growing momentum and enthusiasm for innovating in AI in Europe," she said, declining to name the companies because of business confidentiality information. The EU executive said applicants included EU and non-EU companies, among them tech giants, data centre operators, telecoms providers, power suppliers and financial investors. "Together they have now indicated plans to acquire at least 3 million latest generation of AI processors (GPUs) in total," Virkkunen said. The Commission will launch an official call for setting up the AI gigafactories at the end of the year. ($1 = 0.8537 euros) Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by William Maclean Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial IntelligenceRegulatory Oversight Foo Yun Chee Thomson Reuters An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 21-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies' shares and helped investors decide on their next move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her break stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece's entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as on Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.

Most interest in AI gigafactory builds is European, Commission says

The European Commission announced plans to mobilise funds to build AI factories earlier this year; an official call will follow later this year. The "vast majority" of responses to a European Commission call for interest to invest in artificial intelligence gigafactories is European, despite global investors also being permitted to participate in the public-private partnerships, EU Commissioner for Technology told journalists at a press conference on Monday. Henna Virkkunnen updated plans announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year to mobilise €200bn for investment in artificial intelligence through an InvestAI fund. Of this, €20bn will be earmarked for four to five AI gigafactories, needed to allow for "collaborative development" with the most complex AI models, according to the Commission. The aim is to enable even small companies to access large-scale computing power for future development. The proposals received so far "are immense in scale", Virkkunen said, adding that together the companies are ready to invest more than €230 billion. "It does not mean that all of them will materialise, but it is positive news," she added. The Commission will now enter into discussions with the respondents to the Commission's call, as well as the member states. An official call will come later this year, as part of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking - a joint initiative between the EU, member states and private partners. Competition The Commission announced plans to build seven AI factories last year, but the larger gigafactories will have around 100,000 last-generation AI chips, around four times more than the AI factories currently being set up. The gigafactories funded through InvestAI aim to be the largest public-private partnership in the world for the development of trustworthy AI, according to the EU executive. The Commission's initial funding for InvestAI will come from existing EU funding programmes which have a digital component, such as the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and InvestEU. EU member states can also contribute by committing investment from existing earmarked cohesion funds. That call came after other regions in the world, including the US, outperform Europe when it comes to AI funding and investment. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump also announced a joint venture, with Stargate, OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank, to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the country. The joint venture team will set up a separate company, deploying $100bn (€96bn) immediately and increasing the investment up to $500bn (€480bn) over the coming four years.

Europe's AI gigafactory push attracts 76 bids: EU tech chief - The Economic Times

The European Commission made the announcement four months after committing €20 billion ($23 billion) in EU funding to build four AI gigafactories across the bloc. These large-scale facilities, designed for advanced AI computing and data storage, will feature around 100,000 cutting-edge AI chips.Seventy-six companies have bid to develop Europe's artificial intelligence gigafactories, the EU's tech chief said on Monday, hailing a bigger-than-expected response to the bloc's push to catch up with the US and China in this key technology. The European Commission made the announcement four months after it allocated €20 billion ($23 billion) in EU funding for the construction of four AI gigafactories across the bloc. Such facilities, in essence large-scale AI computing and data storage hubs, will be equipped with about 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips. "We got 76 submissions proposing to set up AI gigafactories in 16 member states and across 60 different sites," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told a press conference. "And this exceeds far beyond our expectations and this showcases Europe's growing momentum and enthusiasm for innovating in AI in Europe," she said, declining to name the companies because of business confidentiality information. The EU executive said applicants included EU and non-EU companies, among them tech giants, data centre operators, telecoms providers, power suppliers and financial investors. "Together they have now indicated plans to acquire at least 3 million latest generation of AI processors (GPUs) in total," Virkkunen said. The Commission will launch an official call for setting up the AI gigafactories at the end of the year. ($1 = €0.8537)

European Commission Reports 'Very High Momentum and Interest' in AI Infrastructure | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The companies that responded to the commission's call for expression of interest included European data center operators, telecoms and power suppliers, as well as both European and global technology companies and investors, the European Commission said in a Monday press release. "The high number of proposals received went well beyond the Commission expectations," the release said. "It is a clear testament to the very high momentum and interest in AI across Europe, and especially in AI gigafactories." The commission's call for expression of interest was meant to gather early insights, and the responses are not formal applications, the release said. The commission plans to issue an official call for proposals in the fourth quarter. The companies that responded proposed setting up AI gigafactories at 60 different sites across 16 European Union member states, per the release. "AI gigafactories will be state-of-the-art, large-scale AI compute and data storage hubs, purpose-built to develop, train and deploy next-generation AI models and applications at hyperscale, e.g. models with hundreds of trillions of parameters," the release said. "By integrating vast computing power, energy-efficient data centres and AI-driven automation, these facilities will set new benchmarks for AI model training, inference and deployment." It was reported April 9 that the European Commission issued a report outlining its strategy to close the gap in AI innovation and capacity with the U.S. and China and establish Europe as a "leading AI continent." The plan called for developing at least five AI gigafactories to be funded through public-private partnerships via the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC). It also called for creating a network of AI factories throughout Europe, with each serving as a hub for connecting universities, startups, businesses, public sector organizations and financial stakeholders with "supercomputing sectors" to foster innovation.