Europe has launched a bidding process for seven AI "gigafactories" in a €30 billion effort to catch up.

      The European Commission has initiated the bidding process for the construction of up to seven AI “gigafactories,” large computing centers designed to provide the European Union with the necessary power to train advanced AI models independently from the United States. The tender, announced today, represents a roughly €30 billion initiative aimed at closing the technological gap with AI developments in the US and China.

      The funding structure consists of a partnership between public and private sectors, with Brussels and member states contributing around €10 billion collectively, while an additional €20 billion is expected to come from private investors. This approach relies on the anticipation that public funding will attract the necessary investment for these projects.

      The scale of the initiative is intentionally vast, with each gigafactory projected to contain at least 100,000 advanced AI chips, rendering them approximately four times more powerful than the largest existing data centers in the EU. Collectively, these facilities are expected to more than double the bloc’s computing capacity for AI.

      The term “gigafactory” signifies a notable expansion from existing efforts. Europe currently supports a network of 19 smaller “AI factories” linked to its supercomputers, but these new sites aim to be significantly larger to facilitate the training of advanced AI models that are typically only developed by a select few labs in the US and China.

      There is a clear demand for these facilities, illustrated by a previous call for expressions of interest that received 76 responses from various consortia throughout Europe. Ten countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland, have expressed interest in hosting these gigafactories, with France indicating it may proceed independently.

      Underlying this initiative is a sense of competitive urgency. Europe has observed the substantial investments made by the US and China in AI infrastructure while its companies rely on American cloud services for computing power. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s chief for tech sovereignty, described the substantial scale of computing power as “a strategic necessity.”

      However, the ambition is currently outpacing actual funding. Only around €1 billion of the contribution from Brussels is confirmed, with the remainder reliant on the EU’s upcoming long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework, which has yet to be finalized.

      A senior official acknowledged this uncertainty directly, stating, “We cannot pre-empt the decisions about the next MFF” and described the projected funding as a “best estimate” rather than guaranteed.

      The timeline is also pressing, with construction expected to commence in early 2027 and the first gigafactories operational by mid-2028, contingent on the timely alignment of budgets, locations, and supply chains.

      History warrants caution, as the gigafactory proposal was originally introduced in early 2025 and has faced numerous delays, frustrating some of the partners needed to realize the vision.

      Another challenge is related to the sovereignty aspect of the initiative. The chips intended for these factories are likely to be sourced primarily from American companies such as Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm, raising concerns about financing independence from entities that provide the very technology Europe seeks to distance itself from.

      Energy costs present another challenge, as electricity in Europe is two to three times more expensive than in the US or China, which could hinder data center operations—an already critical issue that subsidies alone cannot resolve quickly.

      Some critics have questioned the viability of the entire model, arguing that renting capacity with sovereign branding based on foreign-owned hardware may create a false sense of independence rather than achieving genuine autonomy. They contend that Europe’s true deficit lies in chip production and AI models rather than the physical infrastructure itself.

      Proponents of the initiative argue that creating the infrastructure is a necessary first step. While having the computing power alone may not lead to the emergence of a European alternative to OpenAI, without it, startups on the continent lack the means to develop at scale—an issue the Commission aims to address, though at a considerable financial cost.

      The Commission believes that a starting point is essential. Public funders would receive a proportional share of the computing resources for research and public initiatives, with the hope that establishing this infrastructure will attract talent and startups, eventually fostering chip manufacturing in Europe.

      For now, the opportunity is presented, but much of the funding remains largely theoretical. Companies are invited to participate in shaping Europe’s AI future, understanding that while the continent has announced a €30 billion ambition, only a fraction of that amount is presently secured.