(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 11 - One of the first AI factories wanted by the EU to create a thriving European ecosystem for training advanced AI models and developing AI solutions will be Italian.
    The IT4LIA AI Factory project of Bologna Technopole is in fact among the seven proposals selected by the European Joint Undertaking for High Performance Computing (EuroHPC) to create the first AI factories in Europe.
    The first AI factories, which will represent an investment of 1.5 billion euros, will be hosted in important research and technology centers across the EU from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to the Swedish University of Linköping to the University of Stuttgart, just to name a few. The investment will combine national and EU funding, half of the amount will be financed by the EU through the Digital Europe program for AI infrastructure and Horizon Europe for AI services.
    Five of the selected hosting sites will feature brand new world-class supercomputers optimised for AI: Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Sweden.
    The AI ;;Factory in Spain will result from the upgrade of the existing EuroHPC system, MareNostrum 5.
    In Greece, an AI Factory will be created and operated in conjunction with the Daedalus supercomputer, a EuroHPC supercomputer currently being deployed in Greece.
    The AI ;;Factories in Spain and Finland will also be equipped with an experimental platform, providing a state-of-the-art infrastructure to develop and test innovative AI models and applications and foster collaboration across Europe.
    These AI Factories, to be deployed in 2025-2026, will double the computing capacity of EuroHPC, addressing specific needs and boosting Europe's AI capabilities. (ANSA).