EU Launches Initiative To Establish AI Factories For Technology Development

BRUSSELS, Sept 11 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) announced on September 10 the launch of a call to set up Artificial Intelligence (AI) Factories to accelerate AI technology development.

These AI Factories will be built around the European High-Performance Computing (EuroHPC) network and will be accessible to European startups, industries, and researchers, according to the European Commission, reported Xinhua.

President of the EC Ursula von der Leyen said AI Factories will help secure EU's position at the forefront of this transformative technology.

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AI Factories will help AI developers train their large generative AI models by using the EuroHPC supercomputers and providing access to data, computing and storage services.

The AI Factories will be connected to EU member states' AI initiatives, creating a vibrant AI ecosystem, said the Commission.

They will propel the development and validation of AI industrial and scientific applications in key sectors such as healthcare, energy, automotive and transport, defence and aerospace, robotics and manufacturing, clean and agri tech, it said.

The call will be open until Dec 31, 2025, with the first deadline on Nov 4, 2024, and subsequent cut-off dates every three months for as long as funds are available.

The call will be supported by an EU contribution of close to 1 billion euros (US$1.1 billion) from the Digital Europe Programme and Horizon Europe, and an equal amount of funding coming from the member states, said the Commission. 

--BERNAMA-XINHUA