Europe Expands Push for AI Sovereignty With Major Investments

European institutions are increasing investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and open-source projects to reduce reliance on U.S. technology providers and strengthen digital autonomy.

Efforts by European AI laboratories have accelerated as the region seeks to address concerns about depending on companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Nvidia. This strategic focus has been shaped by recent developments in global AI competition and transatlantic relations.

The European Union has initiated a €20 billion program to construct AI gigafactories, each designed to house more than 100,000 processors. These facilities are intended to support advanced AI research and development within Europe.

In February 2025, the EU announced the InvestAI initiative, which aims to raise €200 billion for AI projects. This funding package includes €50 billion from public sources and €150 billion from private investors, with plans to establish up to five AI gigafactories across the continent.

What the numbers show

• InvestAI targets €200 billion in total funding, with €50 billion public and €150 billion private
• Axelera AI received a €61.6 million grant in 2025 for chip development
• Latvia’s Tilde used 2 million GPU hours to build a 30-billion-parameter open-source model

Open-source AI has become a central element of Europe’s technology strategy. The EU is supporting a $56 million project to create a large language model using supercomputers such as Mare Nostrum and Leonardo, involving several leading European research labs.

The OpenEuroLLM project, formed in early 2025, brings together 20 institutions to develop multilingual, open-source large language models that align with European standards and values. These efforts are complemented by the proposed EU Sovereign Tech Fund, which is designed to provide ongoing support for open-source digital infrastructure.

European start-ups have also played a role in advancing AI sovereignty. In 2025, Mistral and Helsing announced a partnership to develop AI models for robotics and defense, reflecting the region’s interest in specialized applications. Additionally, Axelera AI received a grant to support the development of the Titania AI chip for generative AI and computer vision.

Supercomputing resources funded by the EU have enabled small and medium-sized enterprises, such as Latvia’s Tilde, to develop large-scale open-source models. The selection of seven sites for new AI infrastructure by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking in December 2024 further supports these initiatives.

The emergence of DeepSeek in early 2025 prompted regulatory attention in Europe and contributed to the launch of new AI initiatives, including the AI Gigafactories and Apply AI programs. These measures are part of a broader strategy to foster innovation and ensure Europe’s competitiveness in the global AI sector.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.