The Czech Republic has taken a major step toward joining Europe’s growing artificial intelligence infrastructure network after the government approved support for a bid to host a European AI Gigafactory.

At its meeting on Monday, the cabinet authorized the Ministry of Industry and Trade to sign a joint procurement agreement with the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, opening the door for Czech partners to compete for one of the EU’s flagship AI projects.

The planned AI Gigafactories are intended to provide Europe with powerful computing infrastructure capable of developing, training and operating advanced artificial intelligence models.

The facilities would serve as large-scale AI data centers, helping reduce Europe’s dependence on technology and computing resources from outside the continent.

Under the proposed model, construction of the Czech facility would be financed by private investors. The state would not directly fund the project but would commit to using part of the computing capacity if the Czech bid is selected.

According to the government, this would give public institutions and domestic organizations access to advanced computing resources under favorable financial conditions.

Officials argue that hosting an AI Gigafactory could bring benefits beyond technology development. The project could attract substantial private investment, create opportunities for research and innovation, and help retain highly qualified specialists who might otherwise seek opportunities abroad.

If the Czech bid succeeds, the AI Gigafactory would be developed as part of an existing data center in Prague’s Zbraslav district.

According to government plans, the project would require total investment of around 100 billion CZK. The largest share, approximately 70 billion CZK, would come from České Radiokomunikace, which would finance the project, assume the financial risks, and become the owner and operator of the infrastructure.

The Czech state and the European Commission would each contribute around 15 billion CZK.

If approved, the Czech facility could contain tens of thousands of AI accelerators, providing high-performance computing resources for scientific research, public administration, technology development and commercial applications.

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