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The European Commission (EC) has received 76 expressions of interest from stakeholders across 16 EU member states to participate in the development of AI gigafactories—substantially exceeding expectations.
Although the Commission did not disclose the identities of respondents due to confidentiality, submissions came from a wide range of stakeholders, including European and global technology firms, data centre operators, telecoms providers, energy companies, and financial investors. Collectively, respondents outlined plans to acquire over 3 million next-generation GPUs to support AI infrastructure development.
Speaking at a press conference, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the response “far exceeds our expectations” and “demonstrates Europe’s growing momentum and enthusiasm for AI innovation.”
The interest follows a recent EC call for expressions of interest, which closed on 20 June, aimed at identifying potential consortia and informing the next phase of the EU’s AI strategy. The Commission had earlier allocated €20 billion to support the construction of four AI gigafactories, with plans to build across 60 potential sites.
These gigafactories—high-capacity facilities for compute and data storage—are intended to accelerate AI model training and bolster the EU’s digital competitiveness.
While the current process does not involve funding or formal commitments, it will inform the official call for proposals expected by year-end.
The initiative is part of the EU’s AI Continent Action Plan and serves as a pilot for the new competitiveness coordination tool, designed to align AI policy implementation across member states.
