What is an AI factory and why is the EU betting big on them?

The European Commission approved a €1.5 billion fund this month for seven new or modernised artificial intelligence (AI) Factories spread out throughout Europe. 

Each factory will deploy or upgrade AI-enhanced supercomputers, large general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI) models and programming facilities, the Commission said. 

The new AI Factories will “widen AI usage” among small businesses in the EU while “boosting” AI research among the bloc’s academics. 

On-site, organisations will be able to develop, test, and evaluate new algorithms that will advance how AI is being used throughout the bloc, the Commission added. 

The first factories should be launched by 2025, and, by the end of the decade, will turn Europe into an “AI continent,” according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

Euronews Next takes a look at what these factories are, where else they’re being used, and what to expect. 

What are AI Factories?

NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang said in a keynote speech earlier this year that an AI factory’s main goal is to generate revenue and intelligence during this latest “industrial revolution”. 

“Everyone who is building these chatbots and generative AI, when you’re going to run it, you’re going to need an AI factory,” Huang said. 

There are four components to a strong AI factory: a data “pipeline” that prepares data for the AI, algorithm building, software infrastructure like supercomputers that supports the AI training, and an experimentation platform where the AI can then be tested, according to a 2020 article by the Harvard Business Review.

The intelligence generated by AI factories can then be used to operate AI models or other types of new tech.

In NVIDIA’s case, the company said it would use its factory to boost the development of industrial robots and self-driving cars and deliver generative AI systems like ChatGPT. 

The factories also support Google’s daily advertising auctions, Uber and Bolt’s ride availability and set Amazon’s prices, according to the Harvard Business Review.

Where will the EU’s AI factories be located?

The Commission picked Barcelona, Spain; Bissen, Luxembourg; Bologna, Italy; Stuttgart, Germany; Mimer, Sweden; Kajaani, Finland; and Athens, Greece as new sites for the AI factories. 

Existing supercomputer facilities in Spain will receive an upgrade and the AI factory in Greece will open with a supercomputer called the DAEDALUS that is already being used. 

Each AI factory will concentrate on different areas of the EU economy: in Italy, some of the focus will be on agrifood and cybersecurity, whereas space and finance are the areas of focus in Luxembourg. 

Some of the AI factories, like the sites in Finland and Greece, will also offer upskilling classes to those who might want to retrain in AI.