# Apply AI Strategy Canonical URL: https://digital-acquis.eu/initiative/apply-ai-strategy Entry type: initiative Source edition current through: 17 July 2026 (2026-07-17). This is not a page modification date. Status: delivered. A delivered initiative is not necessarily legislation in force. Instrument: Communication Date as recorded: 08 Oct 2025 Date kind: date Status note: full date links only to published artifact types ## Previous steps Consultation. Presented on 8 Oct 2025. ## Summary The Strategy adopts an “AI-first” approach to accelerate adoption across flagship sectors (including health, robotics, manufacturing, defence/space, mobility, telecoms, energy, environment, agri-food, and culture/media) backed by around €1 billion from EU programmes to catalyse deployment. It tackles cross-cutting barriers by turning EDIHs into AI Experience Centres for SMEs, building frontier capabilities via a new Frontier AI initiative, and providing clear, practical support for AI Act compliance through guidance and a Service Desk. Governance is unified through an Apply AI Alliance and an AI Observatory to set KPIs and monitor impact, complemented by the AI in Science and Data Union strategies. ## Sources - [Official source]() ## Action items (36; complete published list) ### 1. Action item 430001 establish European AI-powered advanced screening centres to accelerate the introduction of innovative tools for prevention and diagnosis making in healthcare facilities and bringing healthcare services to underserved areas. The initiative aims to improve early detection and ensure timely diagnosis, in particular for cardiovascular diseases and cancer. It will pursue an approach to ensure that AI-powered screening and diagnosis take into account gender-specific factors. By deploying AI solutions, these centres will support real-world clinical validation and local performance testing and generate evidence for clinical adoption. The network of these AI-powered centres will facilitate access to high-quality datasets building on the European Health Data Space as well as the European digital infrastructures for the cancer imaging and genomic data, and support testing and validation of promising AI models including for personalised prevention. This will build on the relevant actions under the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, Life Sciences Strategy and the forthcoming EU Cardiovascular Health Plan. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 1. Digital dimension: no. ### 2. Action item 430002 establish a European Network of Expertise on AI Deployment in Healthcare to consolidate guidelines and best practices. It will deliver deployment playbooks, guidelines including on local validation (performance in clinical practice) and post-deployment monitoring, design principles and set the foundations for exchanging best practices on AI deployment in healthcare. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 2. Digital dimension: no. ### 3. Action item 430003 launch an AI drug discovery challenge for potential new drugs that could be used to address unmet medical needs and treat diseases that have proven difficult to cure, such as Alzheimer’s disease or certain cancers. The winner of the challenge would receive dedicated access to AI Factories compute capacity and on advice how to bring their discoveries to the market. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 3. Digital dimension: no. ### 4. Action item 430004 propose appropriate actions to streamline and enable quicker market entry of medical devices without compromising safety. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 4. Digital dimension: no. ### 5. Action item 430005 establish a Catalyst for the uptake of European Robotics, bringing together developers and user industries to accelerate the development and uptake of European solutions replying to market needs. This will be done in collaboration with the AI Data and Robotics Association. In this context, the Commission will fund the development of sectoral Acceleration Pipelines for the adoption of AI-powered robotics, focussing on high-impact use-cases, prioritised in close collaboration with end-user industries, ensuring that innovation aligns with real-world needs. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 5. Digital dimension: no. ### 6. Action item 430006 support the development of frontier AI model and AI agents adapted to manufacturing. Building on the Data Spaces for Manufacturing24 and the forthcoming Data Union Strategy, the Commission will facilitate data pooling across industrial actors through trusted third parties, to ensure a sufficient volume of training data, while preserving intellectual property and data security and making use, as relevant, of the data labs in AI Factories. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 6. Digital dimension: no. ### 7. Action item 430007 fund the development of Acceleration Pipelines for the adoption of AI in manufacturing, bridging the gap between research labs and deployment more effectively. These projects will accelerate the development of AI-powered manufacturing solutions that address industry needs, by providing continuous support, ensuring that these solutions progress from the lab to a high level of maturity suitable for real-world applications. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 7. Digital dimension: no. ### 8. Action item 430008 accelerate the development and deployment European AI-enabled situational awareness and C2 (Command & Control) capacities through the European Defence Fund (EDF), while also incentivising dual use open architecture solutions for border security and critical infrastructure protection, ensuring interoperability in support of defence flagships, including Eastern Flank Watch and the Drone Wall, especially for the integration of autonomous features in different solutions. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 8. Digital dimension: no. ### 9. Action item 430009 deploy a strategic and dedicated European infrastructure of highly secured computing power capacities (e.g. AI factory/gigafactory) for training of defence and space AI models and development of AI defence and space applications. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 9. Digital dimension: no. ### 10. Action item 430010 support AI compliance of EU space manufacturing and operations, including for in-orbit and ground infrastructure, through advanced manufacturing, robotics, dedicated edge/on-orbit computing, space-based data networks, signal processing equipment, command and control systems. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 10. Digital dimension: no. ### 11. Action item 430011 foster the development and uptake of AI solutions29 for internal security purposes, including by supporting applied research and innovation and stimulating the placing on the market of AI solutions tailored for use in internal security. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 11. Digital dimension: no. ### 12. Action item 430012 fund projects to develop and deploy Cybersecurity tools, technologies and services relying on AI addressing threat detection, vulnerability detection, threat mitigation, incident recovery through self-healing, data analysis and data sharing. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 12. Digital dimension: no. ### 13. Action item 430013 support interoperability and trusted integration of AI into cybersecurity architectures, infrastructures and threat surveillance, including Cyber Hubs and the upcoming Cable Security Hubs, as well as for dual-use and defence-relevant digital environments, Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 13. Digital dimension: no. ### 14. Action item 430014 leverage AI factories and gigafactories to fast track the development of innovative AI models and common software platforms for automated driving and vehicle management systems under the European Connected and Autonomous Alliance. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 14. Digital dimension: no. ### 15. Action item 430015 launch an “Autonomous Drive Ambition Cities” initiative to accelerate the deployment of operational services working with European providers as part of the large-scale cross-border testbeds announced in the Automotive Action Plan. Building on recommendations issued by the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance33, it will focus on AI-enabled self-driving vehicles (robot vehicles) and autonomous point-to-point commuting in cities, establishing operational joint ventures and leveraging the ready to use AI Act’s innovation measures on regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 15. Digital dimension: no. ### 16. Action item 430016 promote EU capacities in edge AI devices by providing dedicated support under the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking and the Chips Joint Undertaking. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 16. Digital dimension: no. ### 17. Action item 430017 create a European Telco AI platform (AI stack pilot action under the Digital Europe Programme) for telecom operators, vendors and user industries to collaboratively36 build AI stack elements, including mediation layers, data engineering, cloud interfaces, and AI services, potentially based on open source. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 17. Digital dimension: no. ### 18. Action item 430018 support the development of AI models that advance forecasting, optimisation, digital twins, and system balancing within the energy system. These activities shall be supported by leveraging cloud-edge-IoT infrastructure, software and AI tools to serve as a digital backbone across all assets of the energy system ensuring secure, efficient, and reliable data sharing across the energy ecosystem. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 18. Digital dimension: no. ### 19. Action item 430019 deploy an open-source AI Earth-system frontier model and related AI-powered applications and services that allow for better weather forecasts, Earth monitoring, and “what-if” scenarios, as next step of Destination Earth. It will be fully trained in EU AI Factories and will follow a multidisciplinary approach integrating different expertise. Through this model, the Commission will make available to local authorities and relevant actors AI-based local digital twins (integrating EU-owned Copernicus43 data) that helps predict risks and reduce impacts of climate change through better preparedness and resilient urban and rural planning44, as well as services for improved disaster management and crisis relief. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 19. Digital dimension: no. ### 20. Action item 430020 foster the creation of a Agri-food AI platform that will facilitate the uptake of specialised farming AI-enabled tools and applications. The platform will facilitate application discovery and integration, increase trust among farmers in AI-enabled applications and promote open source development Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 20. Digital dimension: no. ### 21. Action item 430021 foster the development of micro-studios across the EU specialised in AI-enhanced virtual production. In addition, the Commission will support investments in the development and deployment of European AI models focusing on interactive and immersive storytelling, including media, and on the discoverability of online European music and literary content. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 21. Digital dimension: no. ### 22. Action item 430022 help the development of pan-European platforms using multilingual AI technologies to make available real time news and information from professional media outlets across the EU to wider audiences. AI will be harnessed to translate content for relevant channels - including broadcasting - through classification, recognition, linguistic analysis and translation of content. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 22. Digital dimension: no. ### 23. Action item 430023 launch a targeted study to explore the legal challenges related to AI-generated outputs and how cutting-edge technological safeguards and technologies, including AI, could be used to prevent and mitigate the risks of copyright infringing AI content being generated, including by detecting and removing such content. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 23. Digital dimension: no. ### 24. Action item 430024 build an AI toolbox dedicated to public administrations (including judiciary) featuring a shared repository of practical, open-source and reusable tools and solutions to support AI interoperability. This toolbox will also include the AI solutions foreseen in the Roadmap for effective and lawful access to data for law enforcement. On top of that, Public Sector AI & Interoperability Readiness Pathway (PAIR Pathway) will be launched to provide practical step-by-step examples within a user journey that will help administrations develop services tailored to their specific needs. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 24. Digital dimension: no. ### 25. Action item 430025 accelerate the adoption of European scalable and replicable generative AI solutions in public administrations62 with a special focus on education, taking into account the potential risks in this area. This will include the creation of a comprehensive technical and policy toolkit to support the development of generative and agentic AI solutions. This action will improve the quality of services provided to citizens. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 25. Digital dimension: no. ### 26. Action item 430026 revise the European Interoperability Framework to incorporate guidance that enables AI first policies within European public administrations. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 26. Digital dimension: no. ### 27. Action item 430027 launch a call for expression of interest inviting European companies to share their AI models and systems with the network of EDIHs, which can subsequently promote their wide-scale deployment across European strategic sectors. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 27. Digital dimension: yes. ### 28. Action item 430028 provide access to practical AI literacy trainings tailored to sectors and job profiles through the AI Skills Academy72, which, in addition to its own offering, will aggregate trainings provided by other EU instruments. The trainings should preferably lead to micro-credentials. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 28. Digital dimension: yes. ### 29. Action item 430029 encourage the involvement of industry in AI upskilling and reskilling, including via the Pact for Skills74, and provide access to additional training opportunities to workers in sectors undergoing restructuring or at risk of displacement, including due to AI, via the Skills Guarantee, announced in the Union of Skills Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 29. Digital dimension: yes. ### 30. Action item 430030 fund “AI for business” (executive master) programmes developing hybrid profiles, such as AI engineers76 with industry-specific expertise via the Digital Europe Programme and potential support of Erasmus+. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 30. Digital dimension: yes. ### 31. Action item 430031 establish an “AI entrepreneurs lab” that, building on existing initiatives (e.g. from EIT and European universities alliances), brings together brilliant AI graduates with entrepreneurial mentors from existing AI companies looking to expand their models or pave the way for future partnerships. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 31. Digital dimension: yes. ### 32. Action item 430032 launch and coordinate a Frontier AI Initiative to accelerate progress in frontier AI capabilities in Europe by bringing together Europe’s leading industrial and academic actors and supporting strategic efforts. This initiative will focus on unlocking advanced capabilities through cutting-edge AI architectures and high-quality data, leveraging the computing capacity offered by the AI Factories and Gigafactories. To foster the collaboration, the community will be brought together through a call for expressions of interest. The initiative will address ecosystem bottlenecks and downstream demand by Europe’s industry enhancing both competitiveness and sovereignty in frontier AI development. As part of this initiative the Commission will launch major EU-wide competitions to develop open frontier AI models that are major drivers of innovation. These projects will receive free access to EuroHPC supercomputers, and their open models will be made widely available to public authorities across Europe as well as to the European scientific and business communities. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 32. Digital dimension: yes. ### 33. Action item 430033 guidelines on the classification of AI systems as high-risk. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 33. Digital dimension: yes. ### 34. Action item 430034 guidelines on the AI Act’s interplay with other Union law, covering relevant sectoral legislation (e.g. transport, machinery, radio equipment). Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 34. Digital dimension: yes. ### 35. Action item 430035 turn the existing AI Alliance into a coordination forum for Apply AI stakeholders and policy makers. By joining the “Apply AI Alliance”, stakeholders will be able to publicly express their interest in participating in sectoral workflows, gaining direct access to policy makers to discuss impact, barriers and opportunities of specific sectoral AI solutions. Serving as an entry point, the Alliance will work closely and complementarily with the other consultative initiatives on AI (including sectoral, regulatory and research and innovation ones), connecting stakeholders to relevant discussions87. It will enable networking among peers and between providers and users of AI solutions - for example, linking a developer of compliance tools with potential adopters. Open to all sectors, relevant academics and civil society organisations, the AI Office will host annual gatherings to discuss AI innovation policies and establish sectoral boards to discuss and monitor the strategy’s implementation. Continuous cooperation between Apply AI Alliance, AI Board and RAISE will also facilitate the upscale of valuable research into development and reaching the European market. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 35. Digital dimension: yes. ### 36. Action item 430036 Set up an AI Observatory to provide robust indicators to assess the impact of AI in the currently listed and future sectors, monitor developments and trends and the changes it may bring to the labour market. Based on the monitoring activities, the Commission will make a proposal, in the context of the Digital Decade, of a public and private AI investment target. The Observatory will also support the organisation of sectorial discussions. It will be used for political analysis and decision making as well as for informing the AI community and the broader public about recent developments in the field. Provenance: source document doc-051, paragraph 36. Digital dimension: yes. ## Referenced entries - [Life Sciences Strategy]() — status: delivered. The Life Sciences Strategy addresses fragmented funding and innovation systems, regulatory complexity and slow market uptake. Its actions include the Biotech Act, coordinated work on new biomedical research methods, a research and innovation agenda for food systems, and a data assembly for cross-regulatory cooperation. The Commission presents these measures as support for innovation, economic growth and job creation in European life sciences. Source document doc-051, action item 430001: > establish European AI-powered advanced screening centres to accelerate the introduction of innovative tools for prevention and diagnosis making in healthcare facilities and bringing healthcare services to underserved areas. The initiative aims to improve early detection and ensure timely diagnosis, in particular for cardiovascular diseases and cancer. It will pursue an approach to ensure that AI-powered screening and diagnosis take into account gender-specific factors. By deploying AI solutions, these centres will support real-world clinical validation and local performance testing and generate evidence for clinical adoption. The network of these AI-powered centres will facilitate access to high-quality datasets building on the European Health Data Space as well as the European digital infrastructures for the cancer imaging and genomic data, and support testing and validation of promising AI models including for personalised prevention. This will build on the relevant actions under the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, Life Sciences Strategy and the forthcoming EU Cardiovascular Health Plan. - [AI Factories]() — status: not recorded. Open, EU-wide hubs built around EuroHPC supercomputers that bundle AI-optimised compute, data storage, programming support and talent to develop frontier models and applications. Startups, SMEs, researchers and public bodies get streamlined one-stop access to computing time, data labs linked to Common European Data Spaces, and services for testing, validation and skills—cutting training from months to weeks and lowering costs. The first 13 Factories across 17 Member States are networked, with AI Factory Antennas extending reach. EuroHPC will provide a single entry point and procure AI-dedicated systems in 2025/26, tripling Europe’s available AI capacity. Source document doc-051, action item 430003: > launch an AI drug discovery challenge for potential new drugs that could be used to address unmet medical needs and treat diseases that have proven difficult to cure, such as Alzheimer’s disease or certain cancers. The winner of the challenge would receive dedicated access to AI Factories compute capacity and on advice how to bring their discoveries to the market. Source document doc-051, action item 430006: > support the development of frontier AI model and AI agents adapted to manufacturing. Building on the Data Spaces for Manufacturing24 and the forthcoming Data Union Strategy, the Commission will facilitate data pooling across industrial actors through trusted third parties, to ensure a sufficient volume of training data, while preserving intellectual property and data security and making use, as relevant, of the data labs in AI Factories. Source document doc-051, action item 430014: > leverage AI factories and gigafactories to fast track the development of innovative AI models and common software platforms for automated driving and vehicle management systems under the European Connected and Autonomous Alliance. Source document doc-051, action item 430019: > deploy an open-source AI Earth-system frontier model and related AI-powered applications and services that allow for better weather forecasts, Earth monitoring, and “what-if” scenarios, as next step of Destination Earth. It will be fully trained in EU AI Factories and will follow a multidisciplinary approach integrating different expertise. Through this model, the Commission will make available to local authorities and relevant actors AI-based local digital twins (integrating EU-owned Copernicus43 data) that helps predict risks and reduce impacts of climate change through better preparedness and resilient urban and rural planning44, as well as services for improved disaster management and crisis relief. Source document doc-051, action item 430032: > launch and coordinate a Frontier AI Initiative to accelerate progress in frontier AI capabilities in Europe by bringing together Europe’s leading industrial and academic actors and supporting strategic efforts. This initiative will focus on unlocking advanced capabilities through cutting-edge AI architectures and high-quality data, leveraging the computing capacity offered by the AI Factories and Gigafactories. To foster the collaboration, the community will be brought together through a call for expressions of interest. The initiative will address ecosystem bottlenecks and downstream demand by Europe’s industry enhancing both competitiveness and sovereignty in frontier AI development. As part of this initiative the Commission will launch major EU-wide competitions to develop open frontier AI models that are major drivers of innovation. These projects will receive free access to EuroHPC supercomputers, and their open models will be made widely available to public authorities across Europe as well as to the European scientific and business communities. - [Apply AI Alliance]() — status: not recorded. Apply AI Alliance is the strategy's main coordination forum, bringing together AI providers, industry leaders, academia and the public sector so policy action reflects real-world needs. The wider Apply AI Strategy seeks to increase AI adoption and innovation, particularly among SMEs, support an 'AI first' approach, and promote a 'buy European' approach in the public sector. Its sectoral measures cover 10 key industries and public services, alongside support through Experience Centres for AI, AI Factories, testing facilities and regulatory sandboxes. Source document doc-051, action item 430035: > turn the existing AI Alliance into a coordination forum for Apply AI stakeholders and policy makers. By joining the “Apply AI Alliance”, stakeholders will be able to publicly express their interest in participating in sectoral workflows, gaining direct access to policy makers to discuss impact, barriers and opportunities of specific sectoral AI solutions. Serving as an entry point, the Alliance will work closely and complementarily with the other consultative initiatives on AI (including sectoral, regulatory and research and innovation ones), connecting stakeholders to relevant discussions87. It will enable networking among peers and between providers and users of AI solutions - for example, linking a developer of compliance tools with potential adopters. Open to all sectors, relevant academics and civil society organisations, the AI Office will host annual gatherings to discuss AI innovation policies and establish sectoral boards to discuss and monitor the strategy’s implementation. Continuous cooperation between Apply AI Alliance, AI Board and RAISE will also facilitate the upscale of valuable research into development and reaching the European market. - [Data Labs]() — status: not recorded. Embedded in the AI Factories ecosystem, Data Labs will federate datasets and link them to the relevant Common European Data Spaces, giving developers a single, trusted entry point to high-value data. They will provide AI developers with large volumes of high-quality data in health, energy and other domains under clear access conditions and governance. Beyond brokerage, they will offer value-added services: dataset cleaning and enrichment; standardised formats; synthetic data; and shared technical building blocks that strengthen interoperability across sectors and borders, with data-pooling compliant with competition rules via trusted intermediaries under the Data Governance Act. The Commission’s Simpl software will lower integration costs and expand participation. Source document doc-051, action item 430006: > support the development of frontier AI model and AI agents adapted to manufacturing. Building on the Data Spaces for Manufacturing24 and the forthcoming Data Union Strategy, the Commission will facilitate data pooling across industrial actors through trusted third parties, to ensure a sufficient volume of training data, while preserving intellectual property and data security and making use, as relevant, of the data labs in AI Factories. - [European Data Union Strategy]() — status: delivered. The strategy will establish a simpler, coherent EU framework for secure, large-scale data sharing between businesses and public administrations to power AI. It will align and streamline existing rules and practices, strengthen cross-border interoperability, and embed robust safeguards for confidentiality, integrity, security and IP. Concretely, it will: promote common technical and semantic standards (e.g. schemas, metadata, APIs); enable trusted data intermediaries and data-pooling mechanisms; expand access via privacy-preserving methods (e.g. anonymisation, synthetic data, secure processing); and clarify fair, transparent licensing for B2B and public-private data use. Closely linked to AI Factories, new Data Labs will federate sectoral datasets and connect to Common European Data Spaces to unlock high-quality training data at scale. Source document doc-051, action item 430006: > support the development of frontier AI model and AI agents adapted to manufacturing. Building on the Data Spaces for Manufacturing24 and the forthcoming Data Union Strategy, the Commission will facilitate data pooling across industrial actors through trusted third parties, to ensure a sufficient volume of training data, while preserving intellectual property and data security and making use, as relevant, of the data labs in AI Factories. - [Frontier AI Initiative]() — status: not recorded. The Frontier AI Initiative is announced in the Commission's Apply AI Strategy, adopted on 8 October 2025, in the section on supporting AI as a production factor. The Commission says it will launch and coordinate a Frontier AI Initiative to accelerate progress in frontier AI capabilities in Europe by bringing together Europe's leading industrial and academic actors and supporting strategic efforts. The initiative will focus on unlocking advanced capabilities through cutting-edge AI architectures and high-quality data, using the computing capacity offered by the AI Factories and Gigafactories. Alongside it, the Commission says it will launch major EU-wide competitions to develop open frontier AI models, and that these projects will receive free access to EuroHPC supercomputers. The strategy does not give the initiative a dedicated budget or name the body that will administer it. Source document doc-051, action item 430032: > launch and coordinate a Frontier AI Initiative to accelerate progress in frontier AI capabilities in Europe by bringing together Europe’s leading industrial and academic actors and supporting strategic efforts. This initiative will focus on unlocking advanced capabilities through cutting-edge AI architectures and high-quality data, leveraging the computing capacity offered by the AI Factories and Gigafactories. To foster the collaboration, the community will be brought together through a call for expressions of interest. The initiative will address ecosystem bottlenecks and downstream demand by Europe’s industry enhancing both competitiveness and sovereignty in frontier AI development. As part of this initiative the Commission will launch major EU-wide competitions to develop open frontier AI models that are major drivers of innovation. These projects will receive free access to EuroHPC supercomputers, and their open models will be made widely available to public authorities across Europe as well as to the European scientific and business communities. - [Union of Skills]() — status: delivered. Union of Skills measures span basic education, digital learning, science and technology education, vocational training, higher education and labour-market mobility. The programme lists action on basic skills, a Skills Guarantee, skills academies, university-business partnerships, portability and recognition of qualifications, a European degree or label, and talent attraction. Its timetable includes pilots, strategies, frameworks and legal arrangements. Source document doc-051, action item 430029: > encourage the involvement of industry in AI upskilling and reskilling, including via the Pact for Skills74, and provide access to additional training opportunities to workers in sectors undergoing restructuring or at risk of displacement, including due to AI, via the Skills Guarantee, announced in the Union of Skills ## Citing documents - [Political Guidelines 2024-29]() — status: not recorded. The Political Guidelines link European competitiveness with industrial renewal, digital innovation and simpler rules for businesses. They propose support for AI, data sharing, biotechnology and strategic investment, alongside cleaner energy, circular production and changes to public procurement. A Union of Skills would connect education, training and recognition of qualifications across borders. The programme also covers hospital cybersecurity, protection against online manipulation and harmful platform design, and measures to improve working conditions. International partnerships and economic security form part of this agenda, while institutional reforms and stronger cooperation on lawmaking are intended to support its implementation. Source document doc-002, action item 30017: > We must now focus our efforts on becoming a global leader in AI innovation. In the first 100 days, we will ensure access to new, tailored supercomputing capacity for AI start-ups and industry through an AI Factories initiative. We will also develop with Member States, industry and civil society an Apply AI Strategy to boost new industrial uses of AI and to improve the delivery of a variety of public services, such as healthcare. In this spirit, I will propose to set up a European AI Research Council where we can pool all of our resources, similar to the approach taken with CERN. - [AI Continent Action Plan]() — status: not recorded. The AI Continent Action Plan combines computing infrastructure, access to data, wider AI use and skills development. It proposes AI Factories and Gigafactories, linked data labs and support for European data spaces, alongside work on cloud infrastructure. Industrial and scientific adoption would be supported through the Apply AI and AI in Science strategies, research funding and innovation hubs. The plan also addresses startup financing, access to markets and the attraction and training of AI talent. An AI Act Service Desk and consultation on regulatory challenges are intended to help organisations understand and meet their obligations. Source document doc-032, action item 310016: > Launch a public consultation and Call for Evidence to identify stakeholders’ priorities and inform the Apply AI Strategy (9 April 2025); Source document doc-032, action item 310018: > Organise structured dialogues with industry and public sector representatives to identify sector-specific AI-related deliverables and KPIs and inform the Apply AI Strategy (Q2-Q3 2025); Source document doc-032, action item 310020: > Adopt the Apply AI Strategy jointly with the AI in Science Strategy (Q3 2025); Source document doc-032, action item 310036: > Launch, as part of Apply AI Strategy’s public consultation, a process to identify stakeholders’ regulatory challenges and inform possible further measures to facilitate compliance and possible simplification of the AI Act (April 2025). - [European Tech Sovereignty, accompanied by an EU Open-Source Strategy]() — status: delivered. Source document doc-105, action item 720016: > mainstream open source deployment in the Apply AI strategy calls, focusing on strategic sectors such as automotive, energy, mobility, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agri-food, robotics, manufacturing, geospatial and aerospace; ## Current developments Latest updates from Digital Policy Alert and Global Trade Alert. - [Apply AI Strategy]() — Digital Policy Alert; source updated: 2025-10-08; relationship: related context. - [EU: Launch of the Apply AI Strategy to boost AI adoption and innovation across 11 strategic sectors]() — Global Trade Alert; source updated: 2025-10-08; relationship: related context. ## Associated policy priorities - [AI & Data Capabilities and Deployment]() ## Broader policy context (shared priority; not a direct citation) - [Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence]() — status: delivered. The action plan sets out measures to make advanced AI capabilities available for cybersecurity while addressing AI-enabled threats. It covers an EU evaluation capacity for AI models, structured access to advanced capabilities, secure testing, guidance, vulnerability management and training. It also proposes a pilot campaign on critical open-source resilience, an EU Grand Challenge for AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, and use of AI Factories' computing capacity for cyber resilience. - [AI Act Service Desk]() — status: not recorded. The Service Desk will be the EU’s single-entry helpdesk and information platform for AI Act compliance. Hosted by the AI Office, it will offer free, tailored guidance for companies and public authorities—especially SMEs—plus interactive self-assessment tools, decision trees, FAQs, templates and practical advice on obligations, risk classification, conformity assessment and documentation. It will also route users to national competent authorities and consolidate standards and best-practice resources so compliance is faster, cheaper and consistent across the Single Market. - [AI Factory Antennas]() — status: not recorded. Antennas will extend Europe’s AI compute to every region by giving Member States without local supercomputers a light-footprint node that offers remote access to the AI-optimised resources of a linked AI Factory in another country. They will plug into EuroHPC’s single entry point and common access policy, enabling streamlined allocation of compute and support services, with tailored fast tracks for startups, SMEs and selected EU projects. Antennas will interconnect with AI Factories, European Digital Innovation Hubs, Testing & Experimentation Facilities, and emerging Data Labs to deliver hands-on training, testing, and data services. All Antennas and Factories will be networked EU-wide for consistent access and support. - [AI Gigafactories]() — status: forthcoming. AI Gigafactories will give Europe frontier-scale compute to train state-of-the-art models. Each site will exceed 100,000 high-performance processors, be designed for energy and water efficiency and circularity, and be federated with EuroHPC’s AI Factories. Financing will blend public-private partnerships with the InvestAI Facility and an official EuroHPC call in Q4 2025. Facilities will co-locate data, training, safety and evaluation capabilities; provide shared access for startups, researchers and the public sector; and anchor regional skills pipelines. As a pilot for the Competitiveness Coordination Tool, they will crowd-in private capital, spur EU AI-chip design ahead of the 2026 Chips Act review, and secure sovereign AI capacity. - [AI Pact]() — status: forthcoming. The AI Pact is a voluntary preparatory framework for organisations ahead of the AI Act's implementation. Its first pillar convenes stakeholders to exchange experience, best practices and information through the AI Office. Its second invites providers and deployers to publish pledges covering actions and timelines, including governance, mapping likely high-risk systems, and staff awareness and literacy. Pledges are not legally binding and impose no legal obligations. - [Common European Data Spaces]() — status: not recorded. Will provide trusted, interoperable environments for cross-sector and cross-border data use, turning today’s fragmented datasets into high-value shared resources for businesses and public administrations. Linked tightly to Data Labs, they will offer services such as dataset cleaning and enrichment, standardised formats, synthetic data, shared technical building blocks, and cross-space interoperability to accelerate AI development and deployment. Antitrust-compliant data pooling will be enabled via trusted data intermediaries and governance under the EU data framework, lowering barriers for SMEs while protecting confidentiality and security. A common software layer (e.g. SIMPL) will simplify access and reuse across spaces, strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem and data economy. - [Digital Europe Programme 2025-2027]() — status: not recorded. Digital Europe funds projects that move digital technology from research towards market deployment, with a focus on supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductors, advanced digital skills and wider use of digital technologies. The programme supports the EU's green and digital objectives, resilience and digital sovereignty. It is intended to benefit citizens and businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, through direct and indirect management. - [Digital Omnibus on AI]() — status: in progress. The Digital Omnibus on AI proposes changes to simplify implementation of the AI Act while maintaining protections for health, safety and fundamental rights. It responds to delayed standards, guidance and national authorities that could raise compliance costs for high-risk AI systems. The proposal would link the application of certain high-risk obligations to the availability of measures that support compliance, and would also amend EU aviation-safety rules. - [Digital Omnibus on Data]() — status: in progress. The Commission will table a simplification package to cut compliance costs in the digital acquis while preserving protections. It will rationalise data rules (i.e. DGA, Free Flow of Non-Personal Data, Open Data), modernise cookie/tracking provisions to curb consent fatigue, and streamline overlapping cybersecurity incident reporting, with targeted adjustments to ensure predictable application of the AI Act. It will also clarify obligations under the European Digital Identity framework and align with the forthcoming Business Wallet, applying ‘one-in, one-out’. A Digital Fitness Check will assess cumulative effects and cross-border fragmentation. - [European AI Observatory]() — status: not recorded. The European AI Observatory is one of the governance measures in the Commission's Apply AI Strategy, adopted on 8 October 2025. The Commission says it will set up an AI Observatory to provide indicators to assess the impact of AI in the sectors covered by the strategy and in future sectors, to monitor developments and trends, and to follow the changes AI may bring to the labour market. The Observatory will also support the organisation of sectoral discussions and will be used for political analysis and decision making, as well as for informing the AI community and the broader public about recent developments in the field. The Commission adds that, based on the monitoring activities, it will make a proposal, in the context of the Digital Decade, for a public and private AI investment target. - [Experience Centres for AI (EDIHs)]() — status: not recorded. The network of European Digital Innovation Hubs will be transformed into AI Experience Centres, covering 85 % of European regions and fully integrated with the AI Factories ecosystem. These centres will provide companies and public administrations with hands-on access to computing power, high-quality data, testing and experimentation environments, regulatory sandboxes, and tailored training. By linking AI deployment directly to Europe’s supercomputing and data infrastructure, the Experience Centres will accelerate the uptake of AI across sectors, foster innovation in strategic industries, and ensure that European businesses can test, scale, and adopt AI solutions under trusted conditions - [GenAI4EU]() — status: not recorded. Will scale Europe’s generative-AI capacity through targeted R&I and deployment across sectors. Around €700 million in Horizon Europe and Digital Europe calls will fund advanced models and solutions (e.g. to optimise manufacturing lines, improve robot autonomy and human-robot collaboration, strengthen cyber-defence, and enhance medical imaging) while up to four public-sector pilots will accelerate adoption by improving decision-making, streamlining processes, and making services more accessible. Building on the AI Innovation Package and the AI Continent Action Plan, the calls in Q1 2026 will prioritise high-impact uses and innovation procurement to crowd-in private investment and translate research outputs into market-ready solutions. - [InvestAI]() — status: not recorded. The program will mobilise €200 billion to scale Europe’s AI capacity through a layered public-private fund that de-risks private capital with the EU budget and national co-financing. It will finance four AI gigafactories each with around 100,000 latest-generation AI chips, creating the world’s largest PPP for trustworthy AI and giving startups and industry broad access to compute. Initial EU contributions will come from Digital Europe, Horizon Europe and InvestEU, with cohesion funding from Member States. InvestAI complements the €10 billion AI Factories programme and serves as a pilot for strategic-technology financing under the Competitiveness Compass. - [Special Envoy for Industrial AI]() — status: not recorded. On 3 June 2026 the Commission appointed Jim Hagemann Snabe as Special Envoy for Industrial Artificial Intelligence. The Commission says he will advise President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen on industrial AI. His advisory role covers the entire industrial AI ecosystem, with a particular focus on AI infrastructure, including data centres, high-performance computing and the semiconductor supply chains, together with foundational AI technologies such as large language models, generative AI and cloud services, and AI applications across industrial sectors. The Special Envoy is to deliver a report on industrial AI that the Commission describes as evidence-based and forward-looking, with actionable recommendations aimed at strengthening Europe's digital sovereignty. Mr Hagemann Snabe holds the status of a non-remunerated Special Adviser until 31 March 2027 and will suspend his membership of the Google Cloud advisory board and the C3.ai board during the mandate. --- [Reading guide and interpretation notes]() · [Methodology]()