AI Factories: European Commission Announces the AI Continent Action Plan

AI Factories: European Commission Announces the AI Continent Action Plan

Commission sets course for Europe’s AI leadership with an ambitious AI Continent Action Plan. Becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence is the objective of the AI Continent Action Plan, which has been launched today.

The Commission will strengthen Europe’s AI and supercomputing infrastructure with a network of AI Factories. 13 of these factories are already deployed around Europe’s world-leading supercomputers. They will support EU AI startups, industry and researchers in developing AI models and applications.

The race for leadership in AI is far from over. From cutting-edge foundation models to specialised AI applications, the AI landscape in the EU is dynamic. It is driven by research, emerging technologies and a thriving ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Action Plan will boost the European Union’s AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies.

The Piast-AI Factory is dedicated to advancing AI research, innovation, and application of the technology in Poland and across Europe. By bridging the gap between academia, industry, and government, the Piast-AI Factory fosters a dynamic ecosystem for knowledge exchange and AI innovation.

Led by the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center, Piast-AI Factory collaborates with the Poznań University of Technology, the Adam Mickiewicz University, and the Nicolaus Copernicus University, along with regional industry clusters and innovation hubs, particularly the Wielkopolska IT & Telecommunication Cluster. The investment is supported by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Ministry of Science and Higher Education with the Ministry of Finance coordinating the process.

The Piast-AI Factory seeks to accelerate the adoption of AI technologies across academia and industry sectors, in particular for Health & Life sciences, IT & Cybersecurity (including Quantum), Space & Robotics, Sustainability (Energy, Agriculture and Climate Change) and the public sector.
Leveraging PSNC’s advanced HPC infrastructure and the EuroHPC quantum computer Piast-Q, the Piast-AI Factory promises to drive innovation, foster collaboration, and strengthen Poland’s position within the European HPC, Quantum and AI ecosystem.

The AI Factory will focus on accessibility, sustainability, and cross-border cooperation creating a platform for impactful AI applications that address pressing societal challenges while driving economic growth.Through these efforts, the Piast-AI Factory wishes to contribute to the realisation of a technologically sovereign and globally competitive European AI ecosystem.