The European Commission signed the U.S.-led Pax Silica declaration for the European Union in June as Brussels advances plans for up to seven AI gigafactories to expand computing capacity at home.
The Commission signed the declaration on the EU’s behalf on June 25. It says Pax Silica is intended to bolster silicon supply networks through cooperation among its partners. On Oct. 23, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the EU had received no formal invitation to join China’s World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO.
China’s Foreign Ministry said delegations from 29 countries signed WAICO’s founding agreement at a Shanghai ceremony on July 16. The agreement establishes the group as an intergovernmental body based in Shanghai. Kazakhstan is listed among the founding signatories; its government said the country joined Pax Silica on June 25.
The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, known as EuroHPC, opened a call on July 30 for consortia to develop up to seven AI gigafactories. The agency expects to select the consortia in early 2027, with operations due to start within 18 months after selection. The European Commission says up to €10 billion in EU and national funding is expected to unlock at least €20 billion in private investment.
The Commission proposed a broader technology sovereignty package on June 3, with measures covering semiconductors, cloud and AI, open-source software and energy systems. Its roadmap gives the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act an agreement target in the fourth quarter of 2027.
The Commission has approved state aid for an Infineon expansion in Austria. The €319 million approval supports a plan by Infineon Technologies Austria AG to increase power gallium nitride (GaN) production at its Villach facility from 200 mm to 300 mm wafers. The Commission said the project would create the EU’s first comparable power GaN capacity using 300 mm wafers.
Mistral reported using 3,800 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs at its European data centers to train the public preview of Mistral Large 4. The company’s account shows European model development using NVIDIA hardware.
EuroHPC’s next stated milestone is selecting the gigafactory consortia in early 2027.
