The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission are teaming up to finance AI gigafactories in Europe, aiming to boost the EU’s technological independence and competitiveness, the EIB announced. In a Memorandum of Understanding, the two pledged to pool resources to speed up Europe’s capacity for advanced computing and AI. The goal is to create as many as five large-scale AI gigafactories—data and computing hubs needed to train next-generation models and strengthen Europe’s technological leadership.
EIB Group President Nadia Calviño said Europe is a technological powerhouse. “By supporting the rollout of major AI gigafactories, we scale up computing capacity and create the conditions for innovation to thrive,” she noted. AI gigafactories will train the most complex, very large AI models, which need extensive computing infrastructure for breakthroughs in fields like medicine, cleantech, and space. Each gigafactory will run on about 100,000 of the most advanced AI chips—around four times as many as the current generation of AI factories. The new generation of gigafactories will follow 19 AI factories already being set up in Europe with EU funding.
In February 2025, the European Commission committed €20 billion through its InvestAI initiative to establish up to five AI gigafactories across the EU. The EIB Group will explore ways to supplement the grants with loans to stimulate private investment and create a robust AI infrastructure for European startups, researchers, and industry. European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen said AI will spur research and innovation and boost competitiveness. “We will help mobilize unprecedented capital for European AI gigafactories that will enable all our scientists and companies to develop the most advanced, very large models needed to make Europe an AI continent,” Virkkunen said.
The EIB Group–European Commission agreement outlines areas of concrete collaboration, including advisory support through the InvestEU Advisory Hub with a focus on improving the bankability of investment proposals. This approach will enable the EIB Group to turn innovative concepts into viable projects that can attract the necessary funding and deliver tangible results. Supporting innovative AI startups, scaleups, and infrastructure is also core to the EIB Group’s flagship TechEU program, which aims to mobilize €250 billion by 2027.
