Poland, Baltic States apply for EU funds to build AI GigaFactory
Poland, leading a consortium with Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, has submitted to the European Commission the proposal for the construction of the Baltic AI GigaFactory, the Polish Ministry of Digitial Affairs has reported.
"I am proud that Poland is a co-architect of a coalition of states and entities for the AI development," Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Dariusz Standerski was quoted as saying in a ministry statement on Friday.
According to Standerski, the Baltic AI GigaFactory will offer world-class computing infrastructure for researchers, entrepreneurs, industry and citizens from the entire region.
In February, EC President Ursula von der Leyen launched InvestAI, a public-private initiative that will mobilise EUR 200 billion for AI across the EU, including EUR 20 billion for four large-scale AI gigafactories in the EU.
Under the submitted proposal, the Baltic AI GigaFactory would be based in up to two locations in Poland. Most of its EUR 3 billion budget is planned to be spent on investments necessary to build and launch the AI GigaFactory, with 65 percent of the total financed by private capital.
According to the ministry, the high-performance computing centre in Poland would be developing Polish and Baltic language models, such as the Polish Large Language Model (PLLuM) and Bielik, and integrating generative AI with administrative tools and processes.
The Baltic AI GigaFactory will closely cooperate with national AI centres in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, as well as centres in the Polish cities of Poznan, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Warsaw in order to build an innovation ecosystem.
The facility is planned to develop, train and deploy AI large models and applications at an unprecedented scale, the ministry said. (PAP)
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