The amendment to the EuroHPC regulation on the installation of artificial intelligence ‘gigafactories’ (see EUROPE 13766/6) was approved by the EU Council on Tuesday 9 December.
This addition defines the framework for the creation and operation of these megacentres of innovation and data for AI, with rules on financing and procurement and protection measures for start-ups and scale-ups.
The amended regulation also allows unused European funds to be reallocated to finance these plants, provided there are funds available. The EU Council has also introduced safeguards into the text for the participation of third countries: the Commission’s Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, responsible for Technological Sovereignty, stated a few days ago that the “majority owners” of these future major AI model development centres “should come from Europe” (see EUROPE 13706/7).
The Commission claims to have already received a “considerable” number of proposals since the initiative was launched at the beginning of the year. The call for expressions of interest for actual projects to set up these plants will not be officially opened until around January or February next year. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)