The Europe and Future Technologies Circle had the pleasure of exchanging views with Gaspard Demur, Deputy Head of the “AI Innovation and Policy Coordination” Unit at DG CONNECT. This discussion shed light on the main directions of European policy on artificial intelligence, focusing on the Apply AI strategy, the forthcoming Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), and the key concept of technological sovereignty.
Making Europe an “AI Continent”
At the heart of the discussion was the AI Continent Action Plan, launched in early 2025 by the European Commission. Led by the unit responsible for AI policy, this plan aims to make artificial intelligence—particularly generative AI—a strategic area of specialisation for the European Union. The approach is structured around five pillars:
- computing infrastructures,
- data,
- regulatory simplification,
- development and adoption of algorithms,
- and skills.
Infrastructure: AI Factories and Gigafactories
Strengthening computing capacity is a central lever of the strategy. It builds on the revision of the EuroHPC regulation, with the goal of developing AI Factories that are accessible to European startups and SMEs for training AI models.
At a larger scale, the Commission plans to establish four to five AI Gigafactories across several Member States. These cutting-edge infrastructures—combining high-performance computing, massive data storage and energy-efficient data centres—will enable the development and deployment of next-generation AI models at hyperscale. The call for expressions of interest, which closed on 20 June, far exceeded expectations, attracting 76 proposals from 16 Member States. This strong response reflects unprecedented mobilisation across Europe’s industrial, energy and financial ecosystems.
Towards a Cloud and AI Development Act
The future CADA will be built around two complementary pillars:
an infrastructure pillar, supported by public funding and a framework covering the entire cloud value chain;
a legal pillar, aimed at providing a more coherent and business-friendly regulatory framework for cloud and AI.
The objective is clear: to move beyond the regulatory logic embodied by the AI Act and to build genuine European industrial and technological capacity.
Apply AI: Accelerating AI Adoption
Published on 8 October, the Apply AI strategy promotes an “AI-first” approach, integrating AI into public and industrial decision-making, with a preference for European and open-source solutions. It is structured around three main axes:
- targeted sectoral initiatives across ten key industries and the public sector;
- strengthened support for technological sovereignty through innovation hubs, AI Factories and Gigafactories;
- a new governance framework, built around the Apply AI Alliance, the AI Observatory and the AI Board.
Will these initiatives enable Europe to fully enter the age of AI?