EU Unveils €200 Billion AI Plan for Super Factories

At the Paris AI Action Summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union plans to invest €200 billion (approximately $206.15 billion) to strengthen its position in the AI sector, aiming to compete with the United States and China.

The initiative, called InvestAI, includes the establishment of a new €20 billion fund designed to build massive AI factories. These facilities will rely on powerful chips to train the most complex AI models, providing the infrastructure needed to advance AI development within the EU.

In addition, over 20 investors, including major firms like Blackstone, KKR & Co., and EQT, have pledged to invest €150 billion over the next five years in AI-related sectors across Europe. The European Commission plans to add an additional €50 billion to this funding through the InvestAI program, which includes a "superfactory fund" aimed at further boosting private investment.

This ambitious move demonstrates the EU's intention to establish itself as a key player in the global AI race. Last December, the EU selected several consortia to build seven AI factories, with plans to announce five more in the near future. The InvestAI fund will support these AI super factories with a combination of grants and equity investments.

Currently, the EU lags behind both the US and China in AI development. For instance, US-based OpenAI's joint venture with StarGate is set to invest $100 billion and plans to allocate up to $500 billion over the next four years for building data centers. Meanwhile, China's DeepSeek has developed AI models that are already rivaling those of US competitors in performance.

The EU’s ultimate goal is to build super factories capable of training the most advanced AI models. These factories will be equipped with about 100,000 next-generation AI chips—roughly four times the number of chips used in current AI factories under construction.