Bucharest, October 17, 2025 – The Europe Today: Romania has been selected to host one of Europe’s six new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Factories, as part of the European Union’s strategic initiative to expand AI capabilities and strengthen technological sovereignty across the continent. The decision was officially announced by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) on October 10, 2025.
At the heart of this landmark development will be the RO AI Factory, based in Bucharest, which is set to become a central hub for innovation, research, and technological transformation. The initiative brings together a consortium of Romania’s leading academic and research institutions, including the National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest), the University Politehnica of Bucharest (UPB), the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, the National Institute for Biological Sciences, the Transilvania IT Association, the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the National Council of SMEs, and the Romanian Digital Innovation Hubs Association.
The RO AI Factory aims to build a robust ecosystem that connects researchers, innovators, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Romania. By providing access to high-performance computing resources, shared data spaces, and specialized tools, the facility will enable the design, testing, and scaling of AI-driven solutions in an environment that prioritizes responsibility and trustworthiness in AI development.
Beyond its technological dimension, the project symbolizes a transformative shift in Romania’s role within Europe’s innovation landscape — from being primarily a consumer of imported technologies to becoming a creator and exporter of advanced digital solutions. This initiative underscores Romania’s growing contribution to the EU’s broader goals of digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy in artificial intelligence and data processing.
By empowering local talent and strengthening collaboration between academic and industrial sectors, the RO AI Factory is expected to enhance digital skills, drive innovation, and position Romania as a key player in shaping Europe’s digital future.
The establishment of the RO AI Factory thus marks both a milestone for Romania’s research and innovation community and a tangible step toward building a more inclusive, collaborative, and sovereign European AI ecosystem.
