New EU Regulation Boosts AI Supercomputing for SMEs

The Council has adopted an amendment to the regulation on the European High-Performance Computing (EuroHPC) joint undertaking to include the development and operation of ‘AI factories’. These entities will provide an AI supercomputing service infrastructure, making the EU’s supercomputing capacity accessible to innovative European start-ups and SMEs for training AI models and developing projects. This marks the final step in the decision-making procedure.

Vice-President Willy Borsus emphasized the importance of this regulation for Europe to remain competitive in the artificial intelligence technology race. The new regulation will equip researchers, start-ups, and SMEs with powerful tools to develop state-of-the-art AI projects within the EU. The EuroHPC joint undertaking will promote and operate AI factories, which will include an AI supercomputer, an associated data center, and AI-oriented supercomputing services.

The facilities will be open to public and private users, with special access conditions for start-ups and SMEs. Host entities of AI factories will receive EU financial support covering up to 50% of the acquisition and operating costs of AI supercomputers. These supercomputers will primarily be used to develop and test AI training models, applications, and solutions. The regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force 20 days later.

The EuroHPC joint undertaking, created in 2018, aims to make Europe a world leader in supercomputing. Previously, its objectives included developing and maintaining the EU’s supercomputing and data infrastructure ecosystem. The recent amendment introduces an additional objective: supporting the development of an AI ecosystem by developing and operating AI factories. This initiative reflects the EU’s commitment to boosting European leadership in trustworthy artificial intelligence.