What is an AI gigafactory?

How the term is defined

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a plan to build AI gigafactories at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025, Euronews reported. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, adopted on January 16, 2026, defines an AI gigafactory in EU law. Under it, a gigafactory is a large-scale facility that can handle the full life cycle of very large AI models, from development to large-scale inference (running trained models). The facility combines AI-optimized computing, data center storage and networking, secure cloud access and support services.

The preamble says the next generation of frontier models is expected to need at least three to four times as many advanced AI processors as the most powerful AI factories. The Commission's AI Factories page listed 19 AI factories being set up as of August 2026. It says gigafactories will bring together more than 100,000 advanced AI processors.

How it is funded and run

Under the regulation, a partnership backs each gigafactory. A consortium builds and operates the site. It partners with the EU and participating countries, represented by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. EuroHPC, a supercomputing initiative of the EU and participating countries, describes the gigafactories as led by industry.

The EU can cover up to 17% of capital spending on the computing infrastructure. Participating countries must at least match it. The consortium covers the remaining investment and operating costs. The coordinator that represents the consortium must be headquartered in the EU and controlled from within it.

Where things stand in 2026

EuroHPC says an earlier call for expressions of interest drew 76 submissions covering 60 sites in 16 member states. On July 30, 2026, it opened a call for tenders for up to seven gigafactories. Bids are due November 12, 2026. It expects to select projects in early 2027, with operations starting within 18 months. The Commission said up to €10 billion in EU and national funding is expected to unlock at least €20 billion in private investment.

As of October 6, 2026, EuroHPC's calls page listed the tender as open, so no gigafactory had been selected. Euronews reported that the Commission raised its target from an initial four or five sites and that it can commit only €1 billion under the current EU budget. It also reported criticism of repeated delays and of the EU's reliance on foreign suppliers of specialized AI chips.