EuroHPC has chosen seven proposals for launch Europe’s first seven AI factoriesof which one will be in Barcelona. Specifically, at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS). With them, the European Union intends to take the first steps in the development of an ecosystem for the training of advanced AI models, as well as for the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions.
They will offer AI startups, SMEs and researchers full support in their tasks related to Artificial Intelligence, such as access to high-performance computing resources optimized for AI, training or technical expertise, as well as advanced AI tools. In addition, they will serve to promote innovation in different areas, such as health, energy and climate.
All these AI factories will be located in leading technology and research centers. In addition to Spain, they will be distributed in Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany and Greece. Five of them will be based on deployments of new supercomputers optimized for AI; Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Sweden. The one in Spain will be developed from the update of the EuroHPC MareNostrum 5 system.
The Greek factory will follow the establishment and launch of an AI factory associated with EuroHPC’s DAEDALUS supercomputer, which is currently under construction. As for the factories in Spain and Finland, they will also include an experimental platform, which will serve as infrastructure for the development and testing of innovative AI models and applications. Also to facilitate collaboration in the EU.
The launch of these factories, which will use both EU and national resources, is a collaborative effort by 17 European Union countries, and many of the consortia launched for their development involve several countries. They are the following:
Germany – HammerAI
The AI factory that will be launched in Germany will be called HammerAI (Hybrid and Advanced Machine Learning Platform for Manufacturing, Engineering and Research @HLRS). It will be used to provide AI services to entities dedicated to academic research or industry, with a special focus on reducing the barriers that startups, SMEs and large companies currently have to using AI.
It will be coordinated by Stuttgart High Performance Computing Center (HLRS)in collaboration with a German consortium of research and development centers. It is in the HLRS facilities and will offer a secure and reliable platform for machine learning tasks, Artificial Intelligence and hybrid high-performance computing and AI applications. It will leverage cloud-based technologies familiar to the AI community, providing access to working templates, pre-trained models, and shared data sets.
Spain – BSC
The BSC AI factory is a joint initiative of Spain, Portugal, Türkiye and Romania. These countries are represented in the project through the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) and the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics ( ICI Bucuresti).
The system will develop and operate an AI factory as well as AI-ready computing infrastructure that will serve the EU’s AI innovation ecosystem. It will focus on services for public administrations, health, pharmacy and biotechnology, finance, legal, agriculture, climate, public sector, energy and communications.
Its development will be based on three main pillars: the development and operation of a complete set of high-value AI-oriented services with specialized support, the EuroHPC MareNostrum 5 supercomputer upgrade to include advanced AI computing capabilities with dedicated, specialized AI software and an expanded data repository, and the establishment of an advanced experimental AI-optimized platform for testing new computing technologies.
Finland – SNOW
The mission of this factory in Finland will be to reinforce and support Europe’s growing role as an AI innovator by offering a world-class computing environment, as well as access to new data sources, as well as a service center and talent pool. prepared to support rapid testing and development of new AI solutions.
It will be at the CSC-IT Center for Science in Kajaani, near EuroHPC’s LUMI supercomputer, and will be operated by the LUMI group, which brings together members from five countries besides Finland: Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Poland. The system will be responsible for addressing various challenges, such as access to data and the problems in achieving it.
Greece – Pharos
Pharos will be developed for take advantage of the EuroHPC supercomputer under development in Greece, DAEDALUS. It will focus on addressing national and European needs in AI in sectors such as health, culture and language and sustainability. For the latter, it will be used for tasks related to energy, the environment and climate. It will be managed and operated by GRNET following its deployment in Athens, and will be the responsibility of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance.
Pharos will be coordinated by a group of partners, including two Greek research entities: the Demokritos National Scientific Research Center and Athena. The National Technical University of Athens and the National Fund of Greece also participate in it.
It will pay particular attention to the implementation of a set of AI data and services that will enable the development of AI products that are ethical, trustworthy and compliant with the EU AI Law as well as sector-specific regulations.
Italy – IT4LIA
This AI factory is born from the experience of the Bologna Technopole and Leonardo of EuroHPC. It will offer world-class AI infrastructure as well as a cohesive ecosystem to bring together researchers, developers, startups and SMEs. It will do so with the aim of filling the gap between AI providers and their potential users.
The IT4LIA group, which will launch the AI factory, is coordinated by Italy and has the collaboration of Austria and Slovenia. The system will be in Bologna, at the CINECA Consorzio Unteruniversitario facilities. It will mean the evolution of Leonardo, through a new supercomputer optimized for AI.
It will leverage next-generation technologies to deliver an infrastructure four times more powerful than that system for standard applications, and 40 times more powerful for specific AI workloads. Additionally, it will focus on increasing the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in sectors such as cybersecurity, agrifood, manufacturing and earth sciences.
Luxembourg – L
The Luxembourg AI Factory will serve to address the challenges faced by AI users in sectors such as finance, space, cybersecurity and the green economy. To do this, it seeks to offer quick onboarding, as well as personalized support, to companies of all sizes. Its main piece will be the Melu-Xina-AI supercomputeroptimized for AI.
The group that will launch it brings together experts from Luxinnovation, the Luxembourg National Data Service (LNDS), the University of Luxembourg (Uni.lu), and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). It will be coordinated by LuxProvide, which will also be in charge of hosting the factory, as well as operating it, and will be in Bissen, next to Melu-Xina.
Sweden – MIMER
Sweden’s AI factory, MIMER, will be in the facilities of the National Academic Supercomputing Infrastructure (NAISS) at Linköping University, in collaboration with the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE). It will offer a supercomputer dedicated to mid-range AI, which will prioritize cloud-type access mechanisms and large-scale storage for sensitive data.
It will offer AI support and training experience for life and health sciences, material sciences, autonomous systems and for the gaming sector. The project will focus, among other things, on generative models of structural biology, drug design and large-scale training in personalized medicine.
Additionally, you will work with international partners to develop next-generation foundation models, which will be customized for specific academic and industrial applications.
