The European Commission treats artificial intelligence as two jobs at once: building European capacity and setting trust rules. The capacity side rests on the AI Continent Action Plan of April 9, 2025, which has five areas (computing, data, adoption, skills, and simpler rules), and on the Apply AI Strategy adopted on October 8, 2025. As of October 2026, the Commission's pages list 19 AI Factories and 13 regional antennas in the network, while the larger AI Gigafactories are still at the call-for-tenders stage.
Key takeaways
- The Commission describes its approach as pursuing excellence and trust together: investment and adoption on one side, the AI Act on the other.
- The AI Factories page lists 19 factories in 16 countries and 13 antennas, backed by EUR 10 billion for supercomputing and AI factories over 2021 to 2027.
- A call for tenders for up to seven AI Gigafactories is open, with no selections reported on the Commission page updated October 20, 2026.
- The Apply AI Strategy targets 10 industrial sectors plus the public sector, with EUR 1 billion in funding calls earmarked.
- The Cloud and AI Development Act, proposed on June 3, 2026, is a proposal and not yet law.
Two tracks: capacity and rules
The Commission's own policy page states the aim as "excellence and trust" pursued together. Excellence covers research, computing, data, and business uptake. Trust covers the AI Act, which sorts systems into four risk levels. Readers who only follow the AI Act see half of the Commission's position, and readers who only follow the funding programs see the other half. The two tracks are run by different parts of the institution but are presented as one strategy.
The rules track has its own detailed coverage elsewhere. In brief, the Commission's page lists the AI Act's entry into force on August 1, 2024, obligations for general-purpose model providers from August 2, 2025, and an AI Omnibus amendment that it reports as in force since July 27, 2026. This article concentrates on the capacity track, which gets less attention outside Europe.
The AI Continent Action Plan
Published on April 9, 2025 as a Commission Communication, the plan sets out five areas. The first is computing infrastructure: AI Factories now, and larger AI Gigafactories later. The second is data, through Data Labs inside AI Factories and a Data Union Strategy meant to widen access to data for businesses and public administrations. The third is algorithm development and adoption in strategic sectors, which became the Apply AI Strategy. The fourth is skills, including international recruitment, AI fellowships, and an AI Skills Academy that the Commission still describes as in progress. The fifth is simpler rules, which includes the AI Act Service Desk, launched on October 8, 2025.
The plan also names a financing vehicle. InvestAI was launched on February 11, 2025 at the AI Action Summit in Paris to stimulate private investment alongside public money.
AI Factories and Gigafactories
An AI Factory, in the Commission's usage, is a site built around a EuroHPC supercomputer that offers computing time and support services to startups, researchers, industry, and public authorities, with priority access for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. Seven consortia were selected in December 2024, six more in March 2025, and the page now lists 19 factories across 16 countries, with Germany, Poland, and Spain each hosting two. Thirteen antennas, selected in October 2025, connect seven EU member states and six partner countries to the network. At least nine new AI-optimized supercomputers are planned, which the Commission says will more than triple EuroHPC's current AI computing capacity.
Gigafactories are the next tier, described in the Action Plan as four times more powerful than a factory. The Commission has opened a call for tenders for up to seven, supported by up to EUR 10 billion in EU and national funding and expected to attract at least EUR 20 billion in private investment. Earlier versions of the plan spoke of up to five. No winners are reported, so any claim that an EU Gigafactory exists today is premature.
Apply AI Strategy and the AI Office
Adopted on October 8, 2025, the Apply AI Strategy focuses on use of AI rather than building it. It names 10 industrial sectors: healthcare and pharmaceuticals, mobility and automotive, robotics, manufacturing and construction, climate and environment, energy, agri-food, defense and space, electronic communications, and cultural and creative industries. The public sector is a separate target. European Digital Innovation Hubs were converted into access points to the EU AI ecosystem, an Apply AI Alliance serves as a coordination forum, and an AI Observatory to track trends is listed as upcoming. The Commission's April 2026 anniversary release says EUR 1 billion in funding calls is already earmarked.
The European AI Office, established within the Commission in June 2024, employs more than 125 staff in six units and enforces the AI Act's rules for general-purpose models, including evaluation, investigation, and direct fines.
Status table for October 2026
| Instrument | What it does | Status on the Commission's pages |
|---|---|---|
| AI Continent Action Plan | Five-area framework for computing, data, adoption, skills, simpler rules | Published April 9, 2025; first-year milestones reported in April 2026 |
| AI Factories | Supercomputer-based access and support for AI developers | 19 factories and 13 antennas being set up |
| AI Gigafactories | Large-scale training sites | Call for tenders for up to seven; no selections reported |
| Apply AI Strategy | Adoption in 10 sectors and the public sector | Adopted October 8, 2025; AI Observatory upcoming |
| Cloud and AI Development Act | Aims to roughly triple EU data center capacity in five to seven years | Proposed June 3, 2026; proposal stage |
| AI Skills Academy | Training in generative AI and advanced computing | In progress |
These are the Commission's own descriptions, and reporting that a program exists does not show that it has produced results. Independent evaluation of outcomes was not found for any of the items above.
Reading Commission announcements critically
- Check whether a figure is committed funding, mobilized private investment, or a target.
- Check whether a program is selected, being set up, or operating.
- Note that member states and the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking share the cost of many items.
- Look at the page's update date, since several items changed between 2025 and 2026.
FAQ
Is the European Commission the same as the EU Parliament?
No. The Commission proposes laws and runs programs, while the European Parliament and the Council of the EU adopt legislation. The AI Act and its amendments passed through both.
Does the Commission regulate AI outside Europe?
The AI Act can apply to providers outside the EU when their systems are placed on the EU market or their outputs are used there. Whether a specific Canadian or American product is covered depends on how it is offered.
What is an AI Factory?
It is a site built around a supercomputer that gives startups, researchers, and companies access to computing time and support, coordinated through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.
Are the AI Gigafactories built?
Not according to the Commission's page updated October 20, 2026. The call for tenders was open and no selections were reported.
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Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- European approach to artificial intelligence, European Commission, Digital Strategy, 2026
- AI Factories, European Commission, Digital Strategy, updated October 20, 2026
- AI Continent Action Plan, European Commission, 2025
- AI Continent Action Plan delivers major milestones, European Commission, April 9, 2026
- Apply AI Strategy, European Commission, Digital Strategy, 2026
- European AI Office, European Commission, Digital Strategy, 2026