The European Union has announced a 10 billion euro investment plan to build seven giant artificial intelligence (AI) centers, with the aim of strengthening Europe's competitiveness against the United States and China in this strategic sector.
According to the European Commission, public funds aim to attract an additional 20 billion euros in private investment, bringing the total value of the project to around 30 billion euros.
The European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Technology, Henna Virkkunen, stated that Europe urgently needs much greater computing capacity, as the development of artificial intelligence is accelerating at a rapid pace.
According to her, the project is part of the EU's strategy to increase "technological independence", reducing dependence on companies and technologies from other countries, which could become a tool of political or economic pressure.
Interested companies can now apply to build the new centers, which will be equipped with at least 100 advanced artificial intelligence processors each. These facilities are expected to be about four times more powerful than existing centers in the European Union.
The EU currently has 19 large AI computing centers, spread across countries from Finland to Spain. With the construction of seven new centers, the bloc's computing capacity is expected to double.
However, a 2025 assessment by the US Federal Reserve shows that Europe continues to lag behind the United States and China in the development of artificial intelligence. Among the main challenges are the lack of production of electronic components, higher electricity costs and lower levels of private investment.
The European Commission warns that, without further investment, European businesses and institutions will continue to rely on American artificial intelligence platforms, which could affect data security and the development of European alternatives.
Currently, the French company Mistral AI is considered one of the leading European players in this field, but still lags behind American giants such as OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Chinese companies such as DeepSeek.
The European Commission emphasizes that the artificial intelligence systems that will be developed in these centers will respect European standards for the protection of personal data, cybersecurity, and ethics in the use of technology.
