The European Union is the world’s second-largest economy in terms of GDP, but when it comes to its place on the AI market, its position is by far not as strong. To catch up with the U.S. and China, the bloc is launching a $30 billion initiative to build a network of high-capacity data centers that can host millions of AI GPUs, reports CNBC. If successful, the EU will have gigawatt-class datacenters with performance akin to that owned by leading U.S. companies. To date, the European Union has allocated €10 billion (approximately $11.8 billion) to establish 13 AI data centers, alongside an additional €20 billion earmarked as initial funding for a network of gigawatt-class AI facilities. So far, the project has attracted 76 expressions of interest from 16 member states, covering a total of 60 potential locations, according to CNBC. Initial launches are underway, with the first AI factory expected to go live in the coming weeks and a large-scale project in Munich planned for early September. Each gigawatt datacenter is expected to require €3 to €5 billion and deliver a level of computational power far greater than existing AI data centers, potentially supporting over 100,000 advanced AI GPUs per site, according to estimates by UBS cited by CNBC. xAI’s Colossus super cluster consumes about 150 MW of power when equipped with 100,000 H100 GPUs, so a gigawatt facility will probably be able to host many more GPUs. Perhaps, 300,000 Blackwell Ultra processors.

Full report : European Union plans multiple AI data centers to host 100,000 AI GPUs each as bloc plays catch-up to US and China.