site.btaBulgaria to Host One of Six New AI Factories across Europe

Bulgaria will host one of six new AI factories across Europe. That transpired Wednesday after the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) said it had chosen six new locations in Europe to host additional AI factories, aiming to strengthen Europe’s leadership in AI and innovation. Bulgaria was picked for its EUR 90 million project which competed with some of the most advanced countries, thanks to the joint work with Sofia Tech Park and the INSAIT institute of computer technologies and artificial intelligence, said the Innovation and Growth Ministry 

The AI factories will be established in Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Poland, and Slovenia in 2026, backed by a combined national and EU investment of EUR 485 million. These will provide privileged access to AI startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), fostering their growth.

This follows the first selection of seven AI factories in December 2024.

Supported by the EU’s world-class supercomputing network, these AI factories will bring together computational power, data, and talent, enabling companies, researchers, and startups to enhance the training and development of large-scale, reliable, and ethical AI models.

The Bulgarian AI Factory BRAIN++, will be located at Sofia Tech Park, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and will comprise of two key components, which will operate in synergy: the Discoverer++, a next-generation supercomputer tailored for advanced AI workloads, and the Bulgarian AI Factory, a comprehensive AI hub offering one-stop shop governmental, education and private companies which will be able to adopt and responsibly innovate with AI.

BRAIN++ aims to position Bulgaria as a regional leader in AI innovation by fostering talent development, supporting startups/SMEs, and driving further development and deployment of Bulgarian Language LLMs, Robotics AI, Space Observation AI, product manufacturing (with an emphasis on consumer good products), Trustworthy AI Compliance Tools, Federated AI Data Lake, collaborative office and virtual AI workspaces (BulgAI Sandbox) and with AI skills and talent development and responsible AI entrepreneurship.   

By integrating with other EuroHPC AI Factories across Europe, BRAIN++ will contribute to a unified European AI ecosystem while promoting ethical and responsible AI practices.

More information can be found in EuroHPC’s press release.