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Latest / Chips, compute and energy

ProgrammeComputeGovernmentEUConfirmed

EU opens call for up to seven AI gigafactories

See how this story connects

Source: EuroHPC Joint UndertakingAlso reported by StorageNewsletter

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking opened its call for consortia to build and run up to seven AI gigafactories for frontier-model training and inference, using the expanded mandate in Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150. EU and member-state funding acts as an anchor customer, mostly from the 2028-2035 budget, with more than €20bn of private investment expected; bids close on 12 November 2026.

Why it matters

Consortia have until 12 November 2026 to bid, and the up to seven sites chosen will decide where EU model developers can train frontier models at scale.

When
30 Jul 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0072
Who
EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, European Commission

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the reporting credited above. Checked against the source on 7 Oct 2026.

Read the original at EuroHPC Joint Undertaking

Source copy: download the page as saved on 18 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Next stop on this Storyline: What happened nextAustralia consults on mandatory rules for data centres over 30MW and frontier AI training

Data to measure this

Compare the years before 2026 with the years since in these series.

  • Epoch AI: frontier AI data centresEpoch AISite-level timelines of IT power, compute (H100-equivalents) and capital cost for large AI data centres.live · download · CSV
  • IEA Energy and AI dataInternational Energy AgencyWorld and regional data-centre capacity, power usage effectiveness, load factor and electricity use.download · XLSX
  • TOP500 supercomputer listTOP500.orgThe 500 most powerful computer systems, ranked twice a year, with country, site and hardware.Years: 1993-2026 · semi-annual · query tool · Covers before and after
  • OECD.AI: venture capital investments in AI start-upsOECD.AI (data from Preqin)Venture capital invested in AI start-ups by country and industry, with series for generative AI and AI compute start-ups.live · query tool
  • Crunchbase company and funding dataCrunchbase · paidPrivate company profiles, funding rounds and acquisitions.live · api · API
  • Dealroom AI sector dataDealroom.co · paidAI start-ups, unicorns and venture funding by country, city, stage and sub-sector.live · query tool

All data for European Union

Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0072: “EU opens call for up to seven AI gigafactories.” wheresthe.ai, 30 Jul 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/eu-ai-gigafactories-call-2026-07/ (source: EuroHPC Joint Undertaking).

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