On 11 February 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the new InvestAI initiative at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit in Paris. This ambitious program aims to mobilize €200 billion in investments dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence across the European Union. A key component of the initiative is the EU’s InvestAI fund, which will allocate €20 billion to finance the construction of four new AI gigafactories across the continent. Each of these cutting-edge facilities will house around 100,000 next-generation AI chips and will be specialized in training the most advanced, large-scale AI models.
According to the European Commission, these gigafactories will constitute the world’s most significant public-private partnership in the AI sector, positioning Europe as a leader in the development of trustworthy artificial intelligence. The initiative aligns with the EU’s cooperative and open innovation model, prioritizing complex industrial and mission-critical applications. This announcement follows the initial plan for seven AI factories, which was unveiled in December 2024, with an additional five expected to be introduced in the near future.
InvestAI will also establish a layered investment fund, offering different risk and return profiles to attract a diverse range of investors. The European Commission’s initial financial contributions will be drawn from existing EU funding programs that include a digital component, such as the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and InvestEU.
In addition to these efforts, the Commission will launch a European AI Research Council to consolidate resources and explore innovative ways to leverage data for AI and other emerging technologies. Furthermore, 2025 will see the introduction of the “Apply AI” initiative, designed to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence across key industrial sectors, reinforcing Europe’s competitive position in the global AI landscape.