The European Union is offering 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) in funding for firms to erect seven AI gigafactories as it seeks to close the AI gap with U.S. and China, the 27-nation bloc’s executive said on Thursday.

The European Commission said it would like the public financing to draw an additional 20 billion euros ($22.8 billion) in private investment.

“Access to the raw scale of computing power within AI gigafactories is a strategic necessity for Europe as AI development accelerates,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission executive vice president overseeing tech sovereignty.

Source: Associate Press (https://apnews.com/article/eu-ai-gigafactories-china-us-data-center-88b83cd517a4d47c115605e636d0b3e4)