EU initiates InvestAI program, aiming to rally €200 billion in funding for artificial intelligence technology development
The European Commission has launched a groundbreaking program called InvestAI, with the ambitious goal of mobilising €200 billion for investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI). This initiative, under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen, aims to establish the EU as a global leader in AI.
The purpose of InvestAI is threefold. First, it seeks to bridge the AI gap between Europe and other leading regions like the U.S. and China by fostering a robust AI ecosystem. Second, it focuses on developing trustworthy AI, ensuring that AI systems are human-centric and beneficial to society. Lastly, it aims to enhance European competitiveness through AI, improving areas such as healthcare, research, and innovation.
InvestAI plans to achieve this by supporting the establishment of AI gigafactories, large-scale computing centres capable of developing advanced AI models. Initially, the plan is to build four such facilities, with the potential to expand to more. Each of these gigafactories will be equipped with around 100,000 last-generation AI chips, making them significantly larger than the current AI factories being set up.
The funding for these AI gigafactories will come from EU programs such as the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, InvestEU, and contributions from Member States' cohesion funds. The Commission has already announced the initial seven AI factories and will soon announce the next five.
Besides gigafactories, the initiative includes investments in supercomputing infrastructures and AI factories, building on existing commitments like the €10 million invested in these areas during 2021-2027. The new AI gigafactories are needed to allow open, collaborative development of the most complex AI models.
The funding of AI gigafactories with a mix of grants and equity will serve as one of the pilot cases for technologies announced in the Competitiveness Compass. This support for AI Factories will unlock over ten times more private investment.
InvestAI also includes a new European fund of €20 billion for AI gigafactories. This fund, along with the EU's existing support for AI Factories, totaling €10 billion, co-financed by the EU and Member States, is already one of the largest public investments in AI worldwide.
The EU's InvestAI fund and the EIB Group are stepping up support for Artificial Intelligence. The Commission is taking various actions to support AI innovation in Europe, including financial support through Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe programme dedicated to generative AI.
Furthermore, the Commission will set up a European AI Research Council and later this year launch an 'Apply AI' initiative to drive industrial adoption of artificial intelligence in key sectors. Member States can contribute to InvestAI by programming funds from their Cohesion envelopes.
The AI gigafactories, funded through InvestAI, will be specialized in training the most complex, very large AI models. These gigafactories will be the largest public-private partnership in the world for the development of trustworthy AI, serving as a crucial step for Europe to enhance its AI capabilities and remain competitive and innovative in the global AI landscape. The goal of the gigafactories is to allow every company, not only the biggest players, to access large-scale computing power to build the future.
The European Commission's InvestAI fund will primarily invest in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by supporting the construction of AI gigafactories, which will be equipped with last-generation AI chips and serve as crucial steps for Europe to enhance its AI capabilities. Furthermore, the Commission will establish a European AI Research Council and launch an 'Apply AI' initiative to promote industrial adoption of AI, thereby leveraging technology for societal benefits and ensuring Europe's competitiveness in the global AI landscape.
