Under a Memorandum of Understanding announced today, the two institutions will pool advisory capacity and financing tools to accelerate the rollout of as many as five large-scale AI gigafactories across the bloc. The facilities, conceived as high-performance data and computing hubs, are intended to train very large models and underpin advances in sectors ranging from medicine to cleantech and space.
Nadia Calviño, President of the EIB Group, said the project would help Europe “scale up computing capacity and create the conditions for innovation to thrive”. Each gigafactory is expected to operate around 100,000 cutting-edge AI chips, roughly four times more than current-generation facilities, according to the bank. They would follow 19 smaller AI factories already under development with existing EU support.
Brussels has earmarked €20 billion through its InvestAI initiative to finance up to five gigafactories, announced in February 2025. The EIB Group said it would assess opportunities to complement these grants with loans designed to draw in private capital and expand the infrastructure available to European startups, researchers, and industry.
Henna Virkkunen, European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said AI would “boost our competitiveness”, adding that the partnership would mobilise “unprecedented capital” for facilities capable of supporting Europe’s most advanced models.
The agreement envisages joint work through the InvestEU Advisory Hub to improve the bankability of investment proposals and convert promising concepts into viable, fundable projects. The initiative sits within the EIB Group’s TechEU programme, which aims to mobilise €250 billion by 2027 to support high-risk innovation and enabling infrastructure.
The gigafactory plan will be integrated into the EU’s existing EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, which already covers 19 AI factory projects, and will be implemented under the Commission’s InvestAI programme.
The EIB Group, comprising the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, signed nearly €89 billion in new financing in 2024 across more than 900 projects. The bank focuses on climate action, digital innovation, security and defence, cohesion, and other priority areas, with around half of its EU lending directed towards cohesion regions and nearly 60% supporting climate and environmental goals.
