The European Commission will allocate €1.3 billion for the deployment of critical technologies to strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty. The funds will be distributed through the new work programme of the "Digital Europe" initiative (DIGITAL) for the period 2025-2027, the EC announced on Thursday.
The programme focuses on the development of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud technologies, cyber resilience and digital skills. Priorities include improving access to generative AI in healthcare, supporting European Digital Innovation Hubs and increasing the capacity of educational institutions to develop talent.
Calls for proposals in the field of digital technologies are expected to be published in April 2025 on the EU Funding and Public Procurement Portal.
Earlier in February, the EU announced that it would mobilise €200 billion in investment in AI through the InvestAI fund. Part of this budget will be used to set up four new gigafactories to train advanced AI models.
The gigafactories will house around 100,000 of the latest AI chips - four times the number of current factories. They will be key to breakthroughs in medicine and science by providing large-scale computing infrastructure.
The financing of the gigafactories will be carried out through a multi-layered fund with different levels of risk and return. The funds will be provided through existing programmes such as "Digital Europe", "Horizon Europe" and InvestEU. Member States will also be able to contribute through their cohesion funds.
The EC already announced the first seven AI factories in December, with five more to follow soon. The total funding of €10 billion, co-financed by the EU and Member States, is expected to attract more than ten times more private investment.
In addition to the InvestAI fund, the Commission plans to create a European AI Research Council and launch the "AI Deployment" initiative to promote its industrial use.