The European Union is seeking private sector investment to boost computing capacity for training large AI models, as articulated by EU President Ursula von der Leyen at the AI Action Summit in Paris.
EU seeks private investment for AI Gigafactories
In her speech, von der Leyen emphasized the importance of providing regional developers with access to robust infrastructure necessary for scaling innovations in AI. She indicated that while existing supercomputing hubs, referred to as “AI factories,” serve as a foundation, the development of “AI Gigafactories” is crucial for training very large AI models.
“As AI requires massive computational capacity, the next step will be to launch AI Gigafactories,” she stated, noting that similar projects have been announced in the U.S. However, she asserted that European Gigafactories will make computational power accessible to all rather than being monopolized by a few entities.
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Von der Leyen noted the need for private sector engagement at these gigafactories to provide the necessary resources for startups in the EU, emphasizing that “we are far from widespread adoption of AI in our economy and society.” She further revealed that this topic would be discussed at a closed-door plenary meeting during the summit.
On the eve of the summit, French President unveiled a private sector AI investment package amounting to approximately $112 billion. In contrast, the U.S.-based Stargate project pledged $500 billion over four years for data center infrastructure to reinforce U.S. leadership in AI, putting pressure on the EU to respond decisively in the AI compute race.
Switching to a collaborative pitch, von der Leyen suggested that Europe’s emphasis on cooperation over competition in intellectual property development could attract capital for the next phase of AI infrastructure. She highlighted that this infrastructure would enable researchers and startups to access advanced computing capabilities, allowing industries to collaborate and share data.
“It will allow hospitals to safely train models based on images and genomic data they own,” she added, indicating potential advancements in basic science and climate modeling.
€200 billion to accelerate AI adoption
In subsequent remarks at the summit, von der Leyen announced that the EU would contribute €50 billion for AI investment, supplementing a €150 billion commitment from private sector companies forming a coalition called the EU AI Champions.
“I welcome the European AI Champions Initiative, that pledges €150 billion from providers, investors, and industry. And today I can announce that with our InvestAI initiative, we can top up by €50 billion,” von der Leyen stated, aiming to mobilize a total of €200 billion for AI investment in Europe.
She noted that this initiative would focus on industrial and mission-critical applications, positioning it as the largest public-private partnership globally for developing trustworthy AI.
Featured image credit: Guillaume Périgois/Unsplash
