TL;DR
The European Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Investment Bank to accelerate the development of AI Gigafactories across the EU. The agreement advances the €20 billion InvestAI initiative, with a formal call for proposals planned for early 2026.
Framework for AI Infrastructure
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) establishes a framework to accelerate financing and development of AI Gigafactories—large-scale computing facilities dedicated to developing and training next-generation AI models.
The EIB will provide tailored advisory support to consortia that responded to the Commission’s informal call for interest earlier this year. This guidance aims to transform ambitious concepts into bankable projects ready for the formal call expected in early 2026.
Advancing European AI Sovereignty
The agreement advances the InvestAI initiative announced by President Ursula von der Leyen at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025. The €20 billion facility will support up to five AI Gigafactories across the European Union.
These facilities represent a strategic push to ensure Europe has the compute infrastructure necessary to compete in the global AI race. Rather than relying on hyperscaler capacity from US tech giants, the Gigafactories aim to provide European organisations with sovereign AI training capabilities.
Looking Forward
The formal call for AI Gigafactory establishment is planned for early 2026, with EIB co-financing expected to follow for successful proposals. For UK businesses working with European partners or considering EU market expansion, this signals significant investment in AI infrastructure that could influence compute availability and costs across the region.
The initiative reflects growing recognition that AI development requires not just talent and algorithms, but massive physical infrastructure—a reality that will shape technology investment decisions for years to come.
Source: European Commission