TL;DRThe EU’s plan for five AI gigafactory data centres is stumbling due to delays and funding gaps, with bidding pushed to July and only two of five centres fundable before 2028. Interest has narrowed from 70 companies to about 10, with SoftBank’s France deal alone dwarfing the entire programme.
The European Union’s plan to build five massive AI data centres, each with one gigawatt of capacity and approximately 100,000 advanced chips, is stumbling before it starts. The bidding process, originally scheduled for May, has been pushed to July. A lack of funding clarity means only two of the five planned centres can receive money before the EU’s next budget cycle begins in 2028. At least two consortia are reconsidering whether to bid at all if the project is significantly downsized, according to people familiar with the matter.
The initiative, announced last year to accelerate European AI infrastructure investment, initially drew interest from about 70 companies across the bloc. That number has narrowed to approximately 10 groups expected to submit bids, with a maximum of one per country. The European Commission has delayed publishing its criteria for the data centres multiple times. “I think I’ve lost count” of all the delays, said Maria Nowicka, a Brussels-based policy researcher at the think tank Interface.
