The European Union has issued a call for tenders to build up to seven AI Gigafactories across member states as part of its strategy to boost regional computing capacity.
Supported by up to 10 billion euros in public funding from the EU and participating nations, the industry-led project expects to draw at least 20 billion euros in private sector backing. The resulting infrastructure will provide startups, small businesses, academic institutions and public bodies with access to hardware for training, fine-tuning and running advanced artificial intelligence models.
The new facilities will combine advanced processors, cloud software, high-speed networking and energy-efficient data centres. Operating alongside Europe’s existing network of 19 AI Factories, the Gigafactories aim to strengthen regional technological autonomy. All systems built within the facilities must comply with EU safety, ethics and data protection regulations.
Consortia and Special Purpose Vehicles comprising private companies, public entities and investors can submit proposals. Facilities can be built on single sites, across multiple locations within one country, or as cross-border developments spanning several EU member states.
The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) will handle procurement alongside 18 participating member states. These countries include France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Ireland, among others.
The procurement is split across two lots and two development phases. The first lot funds up to four projects, offering up to 100 million euros per project in phase one and an additional 400 million euros in phase two. Selected sites in this lot must initially match the processor capacity of Europe’s top existing AI factory, before tripling it in phase two.
The second lot covers up to three projects, with funding reaching 200 million euros in phase one and 800 million euros in phase two per project. These sites must start with twice the current top processor count and scale to four times that level.
Hardware can be sourced from providers in Europe or allied nations. The European Commission has signed letters of intent with US chipmakers NVIDIA, AMD and Qualcomm to secure component supply lines.
Bidding closes on 12 November 2026, with contract awards expected in early 2027. Construction will begin later that year, with operational start dates set within 18 months of contract signing.
