The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has selected seven proposals to establish and operate the first AI Factories across Europe and one of these 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 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.
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.

The core of the IT4LIA AI Factory project is the creation of a supercomputer optimized for AI, which will be installed at the Bologna Technopole, a European touch point for supercomputing, big data, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. This advanced infrastructure will be one of the first in the world and leading in Europe for AI processing capabilities.

IT4LIA AI Factory represents the evolution of a strategy launched in 2017, aimed at positioning Italy at the center of technological innovation. 
The initiative will promote the adoption of AI solutions in key sectors such as agrifood, cybersecurity, earth science and manufacturing. Through a one-stop-shop organizational model, the AI ​​Factory will simplify access to high-value data and a wide range of services, encouraging collaboration between researchers, developers, startups and SMEs.  

IT4LIA AI Factory benefits from a total investment of approximately 430 million Euros, with an equal contribution from the Italian Government and the European Commission. National co-financing is supported by important institutions, including the Ministry of University and Research, the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN), the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Cineca Consortium, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), the ItaliaMeteo Agency, the Foundation for AI and the Bruno Kessler Foundation. Other national institutions and bodies are also participating in the initiative, including the ICSC National Centre.

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