The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking published its AI Gigafactories call on the morning of 30 July, opening the competitive procurement that had slipped repeatedly since the InvestAI announcement of February 2025. Bids close 12 November 2026, awards are expected in early 2027, construction from the start of that year, and operations within 18 months of signature.
The structure
Up to seven sites — a ceiling, not a plan — in two lots: up to four projects in the first, up to three in the second, spread across at least seven member states, with cross-border sites allowed. The call sets capacity in relative terms rather than chip counts: Lot 1 sites should match Europe's most powerful current AI factory and scale to three times that; Lot 2 up to twice, scaling to four.
The money is thinner than the headline
The €10 billion is EU and member-state money combined, not an EU cheque, and is expected to anchor at least €20 billion of private investment for a roughly €30 billion total. Only about €1 billion is committed under the current budget framework. The rest depends on the 2028–2035 multiannual financial framework, which member states have not agreed.
Sovereign infrastructure, American silicon
The Commission has signed letters of intent with AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm off the back of the EU–US trade agreement, with procurement open to Europe or like-minded countries. Europe's flagship compute-sovereignty programme will run on chips designed in the United States.
How it grew
The original plan was four to five sites. An informal call for expressions of interest closed in June 2025 with 76 submissions across 16 member states proposing more than €230 billion of investment — after which the ceiling rose to seven. France has signalled it may proceed alone regardless.