The European Fee this week introduced an AI Continent Motion plan that requires investments in AI and HPC accompanied by a number of AI factories throughout Europe. The EC mentioned 13 of those factories are being deployed at the side of the continent’s supercomputing assets and are supposed to assist EU AI startups, trade and researchers in growing AI fashions and purposes.
The fee mentioned its AI Gigafactories “will likely be large-scale services outfitted with roughly 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips, 4 instances greater than present AI factories.” Whereas the EC mentioned its intent is to grow to be a world chief in AI, additionally they additionally acknowledged that “regardless of the potential of AI, solely 13.5% of firms within the EU have adopted AI.”
Following is the EC’s Action Plan:
To grow to be a world chief in synthetic intelligence (AI) is the target of the AI Continent Motion Plan launched right this moment. As set out by President von der Leyen on the AI Motion Summit in February 2025 in Paris, this formidable initiative is ready to rework Europe’s sturdy conventional industries and its distinctive expertise pool into highly effective engines of AI innovation and acceleration.
The race for management in AI is way from over. From cutting-edge basis fashions to specialised AI purposes, the AI panorama within the EU is dynamic. It’s pushed by analysis, rising applied sciences and a thriving ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Motion Plan will increase the European Union’s AI innovation capabilities by actions and insurance policies round 5 key pillars:
- Constructing a large-scale AI information and computing infrastructure
The Fee will strengthen Europe’s AI and supercomputing infrastructure with a community of AI Factories. 13 of those factories are already being deployed round Europe’s world-leading supercomputers. They are going to assist EU AI startups, trade and researchers in growing AI fashions and purposes.
As introduced within the Competitiveness Compass, the EU may also assist arrange AI Gigafactories. These will likely be large-scale services outfitted with roughly 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips, 4 instances greater than present AI factories. They are going to combine large computing energy and information centres to coach and develop advanced AI fashions at unprecedented scale. The AI Gigafactories will lead the subsequent wave of frontier AI fashions and preserve the EU’s strategic autonomy in vital industrial sectors and science, requiring private and non-private investments. A call for expression of interest for consortia is revealed right this moment.
Personal funding in Gigafactories will likely be additional stimulated by the InvestAI, which is able to mobilise €20 billion funding for as much as 5 AI Gigafactories throughout the Union.
To stimulate non-public sector funding in cloud capability and information centres, the Fee may also suggest a Cloud and AI Improvement Act. The objective is to a minimum of triple the EU’s information centre capability within the subsequent 5 to seven years, prioritising extremely sustainable information centres.
- Rising entry to massive and high-quality information
Bolstering AI innovation additionally requires entry to massive volumes of high-quality information. An essential factor of the Motion Plan is the creation of Knowledge Labs, bringing collectively and curating massive, high-quality information volumes from completely different sources in AI Factories. A complete Knowledge Union Technique will likely be launched in 2025 to create a real inner marketplace for information that may scale up AI options.
- Growing algorithms and fostering AI adoption in strategic EU sectors
Regardless of the potential of AI, solely 13.5% of firms within the EU have adopted AI. To develop tailor-made AI options, increase their industrial use and full adoption in EU strategic private and non-private sectors, the Fee will launch the Apply AI Technique within the coming months. European AI innovation infrastructure, together with notably the AI Factories and the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), will play an essential position on this Technique.
- Strengthening AI expertise and skills
To satisfy rising demand for AI expertise, the Fee will facilitate worldwide recruitment of extremely expert AI specialists and researchers by initiatives such because the Expertise Pool, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Motion ‘MSCA Select Europe’ and AI fellowships schemes supplied by the upcoming AI Expertise Academy. These actions will contribute to authorized migration pathways for extremely expert non-EU staff within the AI sector and entice the perfect European AI researchers and specialists again to Europe. It can additionally develop academic and coaching programmes on AI and Generative AI in key sectors, making ready the subsequent technology of AI specialists and supporting the upskilling and reskilling of staff.
- Regulatory simplification
The AI Act raises residents’ belief in expertise and offers traders and entrepreneurs with the authorized certainty they should scale up and deploy AI all through Europe. The Fee may also launch the AI Act Service Desk, to assist companies adjust to the AI Act. It can function the central level of contact and hub for info and steerage on the AI Act.
With this Motion Plan the Fee opens right this moment two public consultations, operating till 4 June 2025, to additional form these AI Continent Motion Plan initiatives.
- A public consultation inviting all events to share their views on the Cloud and AI Improvement Act
- A public consultation on Apply AI to establish stakeholder priorities, challenges to the uptake of AI, and the relevance of proposed options and coverage approaches—together with further measures to make sure the sleek and easy utility of the AI Act.
A 3rd public session on Knowledge Union Technique will likely be launched in Could.
In parallel, the Fee will organise dialogues with trade representatives and the general public sector to assist form the Apply AI Technique. These dialogues, along with the general public consultations, will establish related examples of untapped potential in adopting AI applied sciences in particular sectors, their present integration in enterprise and manufacturing processes, and alternatives for scaling up inside these sectors and the broader economic system.
On 1 August 2024 the AI Act entered into force and guidelines on prohibited AI practices had been revealed on 4 February 2025. On 24 January 2024, the Commission launched a package of measures to assist European startups and SMEs within the improvement of reliable AI. On 9 July 2024 the amended EuroHPC JU Regulation entered into force, permitting the set-up of AI Factories. On 10 December 2024, seven consortia were selected to ascertain AI Factories, adopted by six additional consortia on 12 March 2025. On the AI Motion Summit in Paris on 11 February 2025, President von der Leyen introduced InvestAI, an initiative to mobilise a €200 billion funding in AI throughout Europe.
