Europe has it clear. It wants to challenge the leadership of the United States and China in artificial intelligence and become a global leader in this technology. To this end, it has announced an unprecedented investment in AI that will take shape in the construction of 13 gigafactories that would enable it to break its current dependence on other regions.

The region, which wants to triple its data center capacity over the next seven years in the next seven years, will drive the creation of these large-scale infrastructures, which will be equipped with more than 100,000 state-of-the-art more than 100,000 next-generation AI processors.. These gigafactories will be able to train advanced artificial intelligence models in fields such as medicine, biotechnology, industry, robotics and scientific research.

The estimated cost to build each one of them will range between 3 and 5 billion euros, as stated in the the call for interest published by the European Commission. These facilities are expected to be four times more powerful than the current network of AI factories being deployed by the European Union.

Image of the Barcelona SuperComputing Center, where one of the 13 AI gigafactories will be installed.

The first phase of the plan will allocate 20 billion euros to create new centers to house some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. The aim is to reduce the advantage that some competitors in Europe have taken in the development of artificial intelligence. A report from Stanford University indicates that there were 40 powerful AI models in the U.S. in 2024, to 15 from China and only three Europeans, all of them French.

Another report from the same university reveals that no EU country is in the top five for “vitality” in the field of AI, a parameter that takes into account private investment, patents and research. The ranking is led by the United States and China, followed by the United Kingdom, India and the United Arab Emirates. France ranks sixth, South Korea seventh and Germany eighth.

Simplifying regulations

To reduce this disadvantage, it will not be enough to build large gigafactories. Europe knows this, which is why the EU has announced further measures in its recently released AI Continent Action PlanThe European Commission intends to “rationalize” the rules and get rid of the “obstacles” that, in its opinion, are holding back European companies from competing with the United States and China.

The first is to reduce dependence on infrastructure non-EU. There are concerns about Europe’s subservience to U.S. cloud and data center providers. Although the Commissioner for Technology Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, has not given details about the extent to which the plan will be developed with European technology, she has insisted that Europe is seeking to develop its own capabilities.

Another important point of the plan is the simplification of simplification of regulations. The Commission plans to “streamline” regulations and reduce the potential compliance burden associated with the European Artificial Intelligence Regulation, which makes it difficult for companies to compete in this area. Although the legislation is very recent and has barely been implemented, the new strategy aims to review all regulations in an attempt to reduce red tape for SMEs and large companies.

More major moves. The EU will ask the technology industry to identify areas where regulatory uncertainty creates “obstacles.” This call for industry participation can be a key driver to accelerate the use of a technology that today only 13% of industries in Europe have adopted.

Lastly, the plan aims to focus on key areas and will therefore focus on boosting DataLabs within AI factories for access to high quality data (DataLabs) within AI factories for access to high quality data, and on promoting AI training and skills enhancement among workers in the AI training and skills enhancement among workersThis will be channeled through scholarships and the creation of AI academies.

Will these measures be enough to close the gap with other poles of artificial intelligence development? Are they on time? As the European Commission points out, Europe has many “assets” to become a “major leader” in this industry. It is just a matter of playing the cards right and staying in the race.