EU Plans Seven AI Gigafactories to Close Computing Gap

The European Commission has opened a tender to build seven AI gigafactories across Europe, aiming to expand the bloc’s computing power and reduce its dependence on the United States and China.

The project could unlock €20 billion in private investment, while the EU plans to contribute an additional €10 billion. Together, the funds would support large-scale infrastructure for training and fine-tuning advanced AI models.

The Commission wants the EU AI gigafactories to give startups, researchers, public authorities and smaller businesses access to the computing resources they need.

Europe targets greater AI independence

The Commission wants to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty as global competition for AI infrastructure intensifies.

Training advanced models requires huge amounts of computing power. Without sufficient domestic capacity, European companies and researchers may need to depend on foreign cloud providers, hardware suppliers and AI platforms.

The new facilities aim to give European organisations more direct access to high-performance infrastructure. As a result, they could build, train and deploy AI tools while keeping more of the underlying technology within Europe.

The Commission also says that projects developed through the gigafactories must follow EU rules on data protection, safety, security and ethics.

Major chip suppliers support the project

To help successful bidders secure the required hardware, the Commission has reached arrangements with several major chip suppliers.

AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm have agreed to provide the necessary technology for the new facilities. However, the winning consortia can also choose European hardware if they prefer.

Access to advanced chips remains one of the biggest challenges in the global AI race. Therefore, the Commission’s agreements aim to help project leaders move from planning to construction without delays caused by hardware shortages.

Bidding closes in November

The bidding process for the EU AI gigafactories closes on November 12, 2026.

The Commission expects construction to begin early next year. It aims to make the facilities available to users by the end of 2028.

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, described access to large-scale computing power as a strategic necessity for Europe.

The initiative forms part of the EU’s broader AI Continent Action Plan, which the Commission adopted in April 2025. That plan aims to improve Europe’s competitiveness, security and position in the global AI market.

Europe still faces a major challenge. The US and China already hold significant advantages in access to computing capacity, chips and large AI platforms. However, the new gigafactories could give European organisations more resources to develop their own technology and compete on a larger scale.