The European Commission launched a call for tenders to publicly finance up to seven AI gigafactories in Europe, aiming to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.

AI gigafactories are large-scale computing facilities equipped with specialized chips for training next-generation AI technologies, including large language models. The initiative is part of the EU's tech sovereignty push to reduce reliance on foreign cloud services and chip providers.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the plan to build AI gigafactories at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025. The ambition is to replicate the success of the CERN laboratory in Geneva.

The Commission expanded the initial scope from four or five gigafactories to up to seven. However, the initiative has drawn criticism for repeatedly being delayed.

The procurement process is split into two consecutive phases over the next six and a half years. The public funding share is roughly one-third of overall investment: the EU contributes about €5 billion, matched by €5 billion from EU countries, with around €20 billion from private investment, totaling over €30 billion.

Under the current budget, Brussels can only commit €1 billion, with the rest expected from the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). A senior Commission official said: "We cannot pre-empt the decisions about the next MFF."

In exchange for public contribution, the EU and supporting member states will receive a proportionate share of compute access for public projects, research centres and AI labs. All operating costs will fall on private actors; projects must be financially sustainable.

Ten countries have expressed interest in hosting a gigafactory: Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Paris has signalled it intends to host a gigafactory alone.

The EU remains heavily reliant on foreign suppliers for specialised AI chips; it has signed memoranda of understanding with Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm. Criteria to assess tenders include measures to avoid potential lock-in effects from suppliers.

Successful projects are expected to begin physical construction at the start of 2027 and become operational by mid-2028.