During the AI Action Summit in Paris on Tuesday, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, revealed that Europe will allocate two hundred billion euros to invest in artificial intelligence.

Of this amount, twenty billion euros will be dedicated specifically to AI gigafactories, which are aimed at providing businesses with the computational power necessary for training intricate AI models through collaborative efforts.

This initiative, termed InvestAI, aims to foster public-private partnerships and will be funded through existing EU programs that feature digital elements, such as the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and InvestEU.

Additionally, EU member states are encouraged to contribute through designated cohesion funds.

The Commission stated that this new funding will enable European companies, including smaller enterprises, to access extensive computing resources, with the initial plan including seven AI gigafactories announced in December, and intentions to unveil five more soon.

These facilities are anticipated to contain around one hundred thousand state-of-the-art AI chips, roughly four times the capacity of current AI manufacturing plants.

This announcement comes in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron's recent declaration of a one hundred nine billion euro investment plan for AI initiatives in France.

Separately, last month, newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump revealed a partnership with major tech firms to invest billions in AI infrastructure in the United States, featuring an immediate deployment of one hundred billion dollars and a potential increase up to five hundred billion dollars over four years.

The InvestAI initiative is part of the EU's overarching strategy as outlined in its Competitiveness Compass, which aims to enhance growth through strategic technologies.

The Commission highlighted that this investment is meant to promote a European approach to AI centered on openness, collaboration, and the cultivation of high-quality talent.