EuroHPC JU opens tender for up to seven EU AI gigafactories
EuroHPC JU has issued a joint tender call for up to seven AI gigafactories in at least seven Member States, backed by up to EUR 5 billion of EU money plus matched national funding; tenders close 12 November 2026.
What happened: EuroHPC, under a Joint Procurement Agreement with national authorities, has called for tenders for up to seven AI gigafactories — four medium-scale, three large-scale. Up to EUR 10bn of EU and national public support aims to mobilise at least EUR 20bn of private capital; each site needs roughly EUR 4–5bn. Deadline: 12 November 2026, 16:00 Luxembourg time, via TED eTendering and the Funding and Tenders portal.
Why counsel should care: the call is prescriptive on sovereignty. Each site needs an EU-incorporated, EU-controlled Coordinator and an EU Hosting Entity; core operational data must stay in the EU; and bidders must plan integration of European-based software, potentially within four years of operations. Non-EU financing is not barred outright, but control tests reach equity stakes, loans, guarantees and veto rights — a structuring risk for non-European chipmakers, cloud providers and sovereign investors. Winners sign a six-and-a-half-year framework contract plus offtake contracts, with public compute purchases capped at the lower of a ceiling and 17% of capex.
Watch: consortium and host-state commitment strategy before 12 November, and whether the indicative Phase 2 EUR 4bn tranche survives the 2028–2034 EU budget framework.