The European Commission publishes its AI Continent Action Plan

The Action Plan emphasises the importance of trustworthy and human-centric AI for economic growth and the preservation of fundamental rights. To achieve this, the Action Plan contains several legislative and policy initiatives, including Apply AI Strategy, Data Union Strategy, a proposal for a Cloud and AI Development Act, and AI in Science Strategy (see details on these proposals below). Calls for interests and public consultations concerning these proposals have been also published.

The Action Plan focuses on the following five key areas: computing infrastructures, access to high-quality data, development and adoption of AI, AI skills and talents, regulatory compliance and simplification.

1. Building large-scale data and computing infrastructure across Europe

The EU plans to facilitate the growth of its public AI infrastructure by strengthening the European network of supercomputers to support AI model development and innovation. The Action Plan also discusses establishing at least 13 AI factories and up to five AI Gigafactories across the EU. The factories will integrate supercomputers, data resources, and programming and training facilities to foster innovation, development of AI applications and collaboration and foster AI application in strategic sectors. AI Gigafactories are large scale facilities for the development and training of complex AI models, aiming for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Gigafactories will be federated with the network of AI Factories to facilitate seamless integration across the European AI landscape and stimulate the design and manufacturing of AI processors in Europe.  Private investment in AI Gigafactories will be further stimulated through the InvestAI Initiative, which plans to mobilise EUR20 billion.

2. Increasing access to high-quality data

The AI plan also indicates a future Cloud and AI Development Act to boost investment in cloud and edge capacity, with the ultimate goal of tripling the EU’s data centre capacity in the next five to seven years. The Act will also establish a common EU marketplace for cloud capacity and services to diversify cloud providers on the market and achieve highly secure EU-based cloud capacity. 
The European Commission will launch a Data Union Strategy to enhance data access, interoperability and availability across sectors to support AI development. As part of the strategy, Data Labs will be established within AI Factories and linked to the relevant European Data Spaces to gather high-quality data for AI research and development. The Data Union Strategy will also seek ways to simplify compliance with EU data rules, make it easier for businesses to share and use data for AI and ensure data confidentiality, security, and integrity.
A call for evidence on the Data Union Strategy is expected to be launched in Q2 2025 and the Data Union Strategy is planned to be presented in Q3 2025. 

3. Promoting AI adoption in strategic EU sectors

The European Commission will soon launch the Apply AI Strategy to accelerate AI adoption in key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, automotive, energy and aerospace.  A network of European Digital Innovation Hubs will support SMEs and public sector organisations to adopt AI and further advance technological development in strategic sectors. A related AI in Science Strategy will help to overcome identified barriers for scientists and encourage scientific collaboration. 

4. Improving AI talent and skill

The EU will address AI talent shortages by enhancing education and training programs, including the launch of the AI Skills Academy, offering AI fellowship schemes, and supporting reskilling and AI adoption by small and medium enterprises and public administrations.

5. Regulatory compliance and simplification

The Action Plan aims for the Artificial Intelligence Act (the AI Act), which entered into force in August 2024 and will have full application by August 2027 to ensure a well-functioning single market for AI,. An AI Act Service Desk will be launched within the European AI Office in July 2025. The AI Act Service Desk will function as a central information hub, providing guidance and practical advice for compliance with the AI Act, particularly for smaller companies. The European Commission will also work with the AI Board on developing standards to facilitate compliance and reduce regulatory uncertainty.

To further shape the Action Plan, the European Commission has opened the following three public consultations: 

1. Proposal for Cloud and AI Development Act: a consultation to gather stakeholders’ views on issues related to the gap in EU computational capacity (including cloud and edge computing) and use of cloud services in the public sector. The consultation is open until June 4, 2025 and further information is available. 
2. Apply AI Strategy: a consultation to identify stakeholder priorities, challenges to the uptake of AI, and the relevance of proposed policy approaches, including possible further measures to ensure the smooth and simple application of the AI Act. The consultation is open until June 4, 2025 and further information is available. 
3. AI in Science Strategy: a consultation to gather the views of research and academic organisations, funders, and European research and innovation intensive companies on challenges and opportunities around AI in science and inform future strategy to overcome identified barriers. The consultation is open until June 4 2025 and further information is available. 

The press release and the Action Plan are both available.