The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking amends its Work Programme to incorporate the new AI Factory pillar

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking Governing Board met on 25 July 2024 to discuss the creation of AI factories across Europe.

The Governing Board Decision 41/2024 aligns with the recent amendments to EU Regulation 2021/1173 and the entry into force of the EU Regulation 2024/1732, expanding the EuroHPC JU’s mandate to develop and operate AI factories across Europe. 

With this decision, the EuroHPC JU has added a new pillar to its strategy: to develop and operate the AI Factories in support of the further development of a highly competitive and innovative AI Ecosystem in the Union.

AI Factories will create a one-stop shop for the users, including startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and scientific users, to facilitate access to its services as well as skill development and user support. AI Factories will be used for the development, testing, evaluation and validation of large scale, general purpose AI training models and emerging AI applications, as well as for the further development of AI solutions in the Union requiring High Performance Computing and the execution of large-scale AI algorithms for the resolution of science problems.

In addition, an AI factory can also apply for a grant to develop an optional system/partition targeting the development of an advanced experimental AI-optimised supercomputing platform. The goal of such a platform shall be to develop an exploratory supercomputing infrastructure for the development, integration, testing, and co-design of a wide range of European technologies suitable to be part of their AI-ready EuroHPC supercomputer.

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking’s Governing Board has confirmed that the EuroHPC JU will deploy AI-dedicated supercomputing and service infrastructures to support Europe's AI start-up and research ecosystem. With the amendment to its Work Programme, the EuroHPC JU will have the capacity to select Hosting Entities (HEs) for these supercomputers and establish the associated AI Factories.

Starting in September 2024, the EuroHPC JU will launch a call which will include two tracks: 

• AI Factory with an upgraded AI-optimised Supercomputer and new AI-optimised Supercomputer

The selection of a new hosting entity and conclusion of a new hosting agreement in the case where an applicant targets the acquisition of a new AI EuroHPC supercomputer or the selection of an existing hosting entity for an upgraded AI EuroHPC supercomputer in the case the applicants intend to upgrade an existing EuroHPC supercomputer with AI capabilities.

This track will be implemented through a permanently open EuroHPC JU Call for Expression of Interest for Hosting Entities to deploy and operate an AI Factory, which includes the new supercomputer and associated services such as skill development and user support. 

After the selection of Hosting Entities, Call for Tenders for the procurement will be launched, along with two grants: one to cover the operational costs of the supercomputers, another to support AI Factory activities and services, and an optional grant to develop advanced experimental AI-optimised supercomputing platform.

• AI Factories for existing HPC Centres 

This track is foreseen for EuroHPC Hosting Entities that are already host a supercomputer which can demonstrate enough computing resources for training large scale, general-purpose AI models and emerging AI applications. 

This track will be implemented through a permanently open EuroHPC JU Call for Expression of Interest of Hosting Entities to appoint existing HPC supercomputing systems as an AI Factory. 

After the selection of the Hosting Entities, a grant to support AI Factory activities will be launched, and an additional (and optional) grant to develop advanced experimental AI-optimised supercomputing platform. 

In this call, the EuroHPC JU will also select such hosting entities as well as the associated “AI Factories” and will conclude a hosting agreement, which will permit to establish a stable and structured partnership between the EuroHPC JU and the hosting entity for:

• the acquisition, integration and operation of the new or the upgraded AI EuroHPC supercomputer, 
• the development and operation of an Advanced Experimental AI-optimised Supercomputing Platform – this part of the call is optional,
• and the establishment and operation of the associated “AI Factory”.

Budget:

The Union's financial contribution to the EuroHPC JU for acquiring new or upgraded AI EuroHPC supercomputers is estimated at EUR 400 million in 2024. Up to EUR 800 million will be committed by the EU until 2027, subject to budget availability (Digital Europe Programme funds). The maximum EU contribution per new or upgraded AI EuroHPC supercomputer is capped at EUR 200 million, with potential increases based on the number of approved applications and remaining Union funds.

For the establishment and operation of AI Factories, as well as the development and deployment of advanced experimental AI-optimised supercomputing platforms, the Union's total financial contribution is estimated at a maximum of EUR 180 million, depending on budget availability (Horizon Europe funding). The maximum EU contribution for setting up AI Factories is EUR 120 million and each successful AI Factory can receive a contribution of up to EUR 15 million for a maximum period of three years.

Next Steps:

The call shall be permanently open until 31 December 2025, with the first cut-off date on 1 November 2024 and subsequent ones every three months. These will trigger the evaluation of the applications submitted up to each respective cut-off date or until the depletion of available funds.

Additional link: 

The amended Work Programme with the AI factory pillar

Background Information:

In her 2023 State of the Union Address, President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new strategic initiative to make the European Union’s supercomputing capacity available to innovative European startups in trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) to train their models. These models require substantial amounts of computing power to train the most advanced foundation models in order to unlock the full potential of AI, a requirement that can be met only with supercomputing.  

On 24 January 2024, the European Commission proposed an amendment to the current regulation to introduce a new objective for the EuroHPC JU. The new mandate would foster the development of an AI ecosystem in the EU by establishing and managing AI factories.

On 17 June 2024, the Council officially adopted an amendment to the regulation on the EuroHPC JU expanding its objectives to include the development and operation of AI factories.  

The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity, created in 2018 and reviewed in 2021by Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1173. This was recently amended in 2024 by means of Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1732, with the mission to: 

• develop, deploy, extend and maintain in the EU a world-leading federated, secure and hyper-connected supercomputing, quantum computing, service and data infrastructure ecosystem; 
• support the development and uptake of demand-oriented and user-driven innovative and competitive supercomputing system based on a supply chain that will ensure components, technologies and knowledge limiting the risk of disruptions and the development of a wide range of applications optimised for these systems; 
• widen the use of that supercomputing infrastructure to a large number of public and private users and support the development of key HPC skills for European science and industry. 
• develop and operate AI Factories located around EuroHPC supercomputing facilities to support the growth of a highly competitive and innovative AI ecosystem in Europe.

In order to equip Europe with a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured nine supercomputers, located across Europe. Three of these EuroHPC supercomputers are now ranked among the world’s top 10 most powerful supercomputers: LUMI in Finland, Leonardo in Italy and MareNostrum 5 in Spain.  

No matter where in Europe they are located, European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from these EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe.