German Consortium Nears EU AI Gigafactory Funding Talks

A consortium of major German companies, including SAP, Deutsche Telekom, web hosting firm Ionos, and retailer Schwarz, is actively negotiating to secure European Union funding to build a large-scale artificial intelligence data center in Germany. This initiative is part of the EU's broader plan to establish five AI 'gigafactories' across Europe, designed to host cutting-edge AI chips and train advanced AI models, with up to €20 billion allocated to the project. Deutsche Telekom aims to play a leading role, emphasizing the urgency to develop independent AI infrastructure in Europe amid strong political support from the German government. The consortium faces challenges such as securing semiconductor chips, selecting suitable locations, and ensuring sufficient power supply for the high-performance data centers. Ionos expressed interest in participating while noting that several details remain unresolved. Germany’s government coalition has committed to hosting at least one of these AI centers on German soil, with the deadline to express interest set for June 20.