EU launches €10bn gigafactory call
The European Union has opened a call to build up to seven artificial intelligence gigafactories across the region. The move is part of the EU Digital Strategy, a broader effort to accelerate technological sovereignty and strengthen Europe’s ambition to lead in artificial intelligence. The initiative is industry-led and backed by up to €10 billion from European funds and national budgets; it is expected to attract at least €20 billion in private investment.
According to the EU Digital Strategy, each gigafactory should combine cutting-edge AI processors, software, cloud technologies, high-speed connectivity and energy-efficient data centres. Together with the existing network of 19 AI factories, the new facilities aim to reinforce European technological leadership, resilience and strategic autonomy. The goal is to ensure Europe can develop advanced AI on its own infrastructure in line with EU rules and values, with technology that respects data protection, security and ethics standards.
Funding structure and phases
Original plans have shifted. The European Commission initially counted on €20 billion and five gigafactories; the budget is now €10 billion and the number of projects has risen to seven. In the first phase, four gigafactories will be supported, each eligible for up to €100 million (2.5 billion Czech crowns). A subsequent round may provide up to €400 million (10 billion Czech crowns) per project. Three further data centres in a second phase could draw €200 million and €800 million respectively (4.8 and 19.5 billion Czech crowns).
Czech bid led by České Radiokomunikace
The Czech Republic is preparing an application through České Radiokomunikace (ČRA), the national radio communications operator. The domestic project would expand the existing Gateway data centre near Prague to as much as 77 MW and cost tens of billions of Czech crowns. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) has confirmed state backing with a commitment of 2.5 billion Czech crowns in the first phase, fully matched by the EU contribution; payments are scheduled for 2028 to 2032 based on actual capacity utilisation. ČRA has also secured a first commercial partner, the Spanish firm Multiverse Computing, which after a recent $570 million investment will contribute up to 1.2 billion Czech crowns in exchange for 30 MW of capacity and provision of its software platform, including AI model compression.
Selection timeline and other bidders
Interested parties can submit applications until 12 November 2026. Proposals will be evaluated by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), the body under the European Commission that manages European high-performance computing resources. Competition results are expected by early 2027. Among other bidders is the Aether Infrastructure consortium, which targets 400 MW and deployment of European-developed processors and AI accelerators.
Implications for European AI sovereignty
Jan Kavalírek of ČRA, who also serves as AI ambassador for Central and Eastern Europe, told Lupa.cz that the gigafactory’s impact on the Czech economy would be exceptionally broad: the infrastructure would help industry and start-ups deploy AI in practice, support science, healthcare, cyber security and state digitalisation, and enable development of proprietary language models when handling sensitive data. For Czech firms and institutions, the initiative offers access to compute capacity for training, inference and fine-tuning of advanced models without reliance on non-European suppliers. Participation also strengthens compliance with EU regulations on data and security, simplifying audits and certification of AI systems in line with the forthcoming AI Act requirements.