Critics Doubt EU Plans for Massive AI Data Centers

The European Commission is preparing to launch a €20 billion plan to build large‑scale AI computing hubs, known as gigafactories, intended to strengthen Europe’s capacity to train advanced artificial intelligence models. Announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the initiative is framed as a response to massive investments in computing infrastructure in the United States and China and as a step toward European technological autonomy.

Despite this ambition, the project faces strong criticism from policymakers and experts who question whether there is real demand in Europe for such vast computing capacity. Critics point out that Europe has very few companies capable of training large language models at this scale, with France’s Mistral being the only notable example. Concerns have been raised that public funds may be committed without a clear business case or defined user base.

The Commission argues that the gigafactories are essential for “sovereign compute,” allowing European industry and researchers to develop AI under EU law without reliance on foreign infrastructure. However, lawmakers have warned that the plan could deepen dependence on U.S. technology suppliers, particularly GPU manufacturers, undermining the stated goal of strategic autonomy.

In comparison with global competitors, the scale of the EU investment appears modest. While the Commission promotes the gigafactories as a long‑term foundation for Europe’s digital future, critics argue that the focus should shift toward applied industrial AI and targeted use cases where Europe already has competitive strengths, rather than attempting to replicate U.S.-style large language model development.