The European Commission has opened a competition to support the construction of AI “gigafactories” across the EU, a project the Commission describes as its largest-ever AI infrastructure initiative. Public funding from the Union and member states could reach €10 billion and is expected to leverage at least €20 billion in private investment, meaning total investment may exceed €30 billion.
The proposed gigafactories would combine high-performance AI processors, cloud services, software, high-speed networks and energy-efficient data centres. These facilities are intended to provide the computing capacity needed to develop, train and operate the most advanced artificial intelligence models.
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, said: “Launching the AI Gigafactory call is a milestone in delivering our AI Continent strategy. As AI development accelerates, it has become strategically necessary for Europe to have the very large-scale computing capacity provided by gigafactories. I am pleased to see member states, industry and the European Commission working together to deliver these facilities, which are key for our technological sovereignty.”
The Commission emphasises that the programme aims to enable Europe to develop next-generation AI systems on its own infrastructure and in line with EU data protection, security and ethical rules, thereby reducing reliance on US and Asian technology companies.
Consortia of companies, investors and public actors may apply. Selected projects will receive funding in one of two categories: up to €500 million for projects in the first category and up to €1 billion for projects in the second category, with participating member states topping up EU funds from their own resources.
Eighteen member states participate in the programme under a joint procurement agreement, including Hungary. The deadline to submit applications is 12 November 2026; winners are expected to be announced in early 2027, and construction of the first AI gigafactories could begin later that year.
Hungary’s participation is backed by its recently adopted Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRF). In July the Hungarian government decided to contribute up to €500 million to the AI Gigafactory programme from RRF resources. The Hungarian RRF includes a dedicated investment envisaging a voluntary €500 million contribution to the EuroHPC joint undertaking to participate in financing an AI Gigafactory and other high-performance computing infrastructure.
The government has indicated it will initially join a Polish-led consortium and may increase its contribution in later stages to secure long-term access to one of Europe’s major AI computing centres.
According to the European Commission, the AI Gigafactory programme is a central part of the strategy aiming to make Europe one of the world’s leaders in artificial intelligence while strengthening its technological sovereignty.
Key figures and dates
- EU and member-state funding: up to €10 billion
- Expected private investment mobilised: at least €20 billion
- Total investment potential: more than €30 billion
- Hungary’s contribution: up to €500 million (from RRF)
- Participating member states: 18
- Application deadline: 12 November 2026
- Winners expected: early 2027
Author: AI desk, online newspaper
Keywords: artificial intelligence, European Commission, Recovery and Resilience Facility, EuroHPC
