EU launches massive €200B AI development program

The European Union announced an unprecedented €200 billion ($206 billion) investment program in artificial intelligence, demonstrating the seriousness of its intentions in global technological competition. The announcement came at the AI Action Summit in Paris, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the InvestAI program.

As part of the large-scale initiative, €20 billion ($20.6 billion) will be directed to creating AI gigafactories specializing in processing and training large models. “The boundaries are constantly expanding, leadership is still in question, and beyond these boundaries lies a whole world of AI implementation,” said von der Leyen, emphasizing Europe’s potential in creating industry applications and increasing productivity.

Parallel to the pan-European initiative, France announced the attraction of €109 billion ($112.5 billion) in private investments into its AI ecosystem. The country is also allocating a gigawatt of nuclear power for a computational project led by FluidStack, which will use Nvidia-manufactured chips.

The EU’s announcement follows significant January events in the global AI market. In the US, OpenAI and SoftBank announced the $500 billion Stargate partnership aimed at developing AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, Chinese AI assistant DeepSeek made its presence known in the international arena, claiming to offer competitor-level quality at significantly lower development costs.

These events reflect the growing intensity of global competition in AI between the three largest technology centers — the EU, US, and China. The European InvestAI initiative demonstrates the EU’s strategic aspiration to strengthen its position in the development and practical application of artificial intelligence technologies, especially in the industrial sector.