The European Union announced Thursday a plan to invest €10 billion [1] in public funding to establish up to seven AI gigafactories [2].
This initiative represents a strategic attempt to secure technological sovereignty by building domestic computing capacity. By creating its own infrastructure, the EU aims to reduce its heavy dependence on technology giants from the U.S. and China [3].
The European Commission is seeking at least €20 billion [4] in private investment to complement the public funds, bringing the total projected value of the call to €30 billion [5]. Bidding for the projects has opened EU-wide, with the goal of having the AI infrastructure operational by mid-2028 [6].
Officials said the program is designed to strengthen Europe's ability to train next-generation AI technologies. The project focuses on scaling the hardware and energy infrastructure necessary to compete in a global race where the U.S. and China currently hold a significant lead [3].
Despite the push for sovereignty, some industry observers said there is a potential contradiction in the supply chain. While the EU wants to reduce reliance on foreign giants, some reports suggest the specialized chips required for these factories remain American [7].
Financial commitments from the private sector currently vary. Some estimates suggest only about €1 billion is committed so far [8], while the EU continues to pursue the larger €20 billion target [4]. The total public investment of €10 billion is equivalent to approximately $11.5 billion [2].
“The EU aims for seven AI gigafactories with a 10 billion plan in race with US China”
The EU's move signals a shift from purely regulating AI to actively subsidizing the hardware layer of the industry. By attempting to build 'gigafactories' for compute, Europe is acknowledging that software leadership is impossible without the underlying physical infrastructure. However, the success of the plan depends on whether the EU can attract massive private capital and solve the 'chip paradox' — building sovereign factories while still relying on U.S.-designed semiconductors.
