Changes from plenary report to adopted text

(3g) ‘AI Gigafactory hosting entity’ means a legal entity which has been designated by the AI Gigafactory consortium to host and operate an AI Gigafactory and its services, and which is established in a Participating State that is a Member State.

(7) the following point (3h) is added:

(3h) ‘Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory Cooperation Agreement’ is an agreement between the Joint Undertaking and a third country specifying access conditions to AI Gigafactories for the legal entities under control, directly or indirectly, through ownership interest or via other means, of legal entities or natural persons established in that third country.

(8) the following point (19a) is added:

(19a) ‘national quantum Competence Centre' means a legal entity, or a consortium of legal entities, established in a Participating State, providing users from industry, including SMEs, academia, and public administrations with access on demand to quantum technologies, tools, applications and services, as well as to national or European quantum infrastructures, and offering expertise, skills, training, networking and outreach.

(9) Article 3 is amended as follows:

(10) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

The mission of the Joint Undertaking shall be to develop, deploy, extend and maintain in the Union a world-leading federated, secure and hyper-connected supercomputing, quantum computing, service and data infrastructure ecosystem. It shall also support the development and uptake of demand-oriented and user-driven innovative and competitive supercomputing systems ▌and systems based on a supply chain that will ensure components, technologies and knowledge limiting the risk of disruptions and the development of a wide range of applications optimised for these systems; and, to widen the access to, and use of, that supercomputing infrastructure to a large number of public and private users and support the green and digital transition and the development of key skills and opportunities for European science and industry. It shall also support the European quantum technologies ecosystem, including excellent scientific and applied research activities as well as the competitiveness of the emerging European quantum industry. When providing its support for the European quantum technologies ecosystem it shall duly recognise the different levels of maturity of the different quantum technology fields as well as the legacy of the Quantum Flagship.

(11) The following point (fa) is added to paragraph 2:

(fa) to support state-of-the-art scientific and applied research and innovation in quantum technologies, their transition from the lab-to-the fab, and their deployment, uptake and integration in world-class quantum infrastructures, for building a dynamic, innovative and resilient quantum ecosystem across the EU, and for ensuring scientific and industrial leadership, competitiveness, strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty of the Union in quantum computing, communication and sensing.

(12) Point (h) in paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

(h) to develop and operate the Artificial Intelligence Factories, and to support the establishment of and access to Artificial Intelligence Gigafactories and their services, in support of the further development of a highly competitive and innovative Artificial Intelligence ecosystem in the Union, while making use as much as possible of systems and components manufactured in the Union.

(13) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

The Joint Undertaking shall contribute to safeguarding the interests of the Union when procuring supercomputers and supporting the development and uptake of High-Performance Computing and quantum technologies, systems and applications. It shall enable a co-design approach for the acquisition of world-class supercomputers, while safeguarding the security of the supply chain of procured technologies and systems, and by promoting diversity of suppliers at all levels of the stack. It shall contribute to the Union's strategic autonomy, preserve an open and innovative economy in the Union through competition, expand Union-wide access to supercomputing capacities, support the development of technologies and applications reinforcing the European High-Performance Computing and Quantum Technologies supply chains and promote their integration in systems that address a large number of scientific, societal, environmental, industrial as well as security use needs.

(14) Article 4 is amended as follows:

(15) the following point (i) is added to paragraph 1:

(i) AI Gigafactory pillar, covering activities of AI Gigafactories, which in their operation may be connected with the EuroHPC network of Artificial Intelligence Factories for ensuring seamless integration and knowledge sharing across the European Artificial Intelligence ecosystem; this pillar shall include the following activities:

(i) providing a world-class Artificial Intelligence compute infrastructure for European researchers, entrepreneurs, and industries, ensuring that access to computing resources is faciliated for SMEs and mid-caps

(ii) enabling the development of new Artificial Intelligence solutions across all public and private sectors and

(iii) ensuring the Union’s competitiveness and sovereignty as an Artificial Intelligence continent, also by ensuring access to the necessary computing capacity and related services for AI development, and by promoting the creation of industrial capacities to manufacture essential hardware and software components.

(16) the following point (j) is added to paragraph 1:

(j) Quantum technologies pillar, addressing the full quantum ecosystem and the application domains of quantum computing and simulation, quantum communication, and quantum sensing and metrology, ensuring the security and resilience of the quantum supply chain and its enabling technologies. Activities shall inter alia address:

(a) Scientific and Technological Research and Innovation: Advancing research excellence in quantum science and technology domains.

(b) Transition from the lab to the fab and ecosystem development: Supporting the development and deployment of state-of-the-art quantum infrastructures; fostering the industrialisation of quantum technologies by supporting the uptake of quantum applications in key public and industrial sectors, ensuring the translation of advances across all quantum domains into real-world applications, including the development of lead markets; promoting European and international standards; and, supporting the development and networking of national quantum competence centres across Europe.

(c) Skills and Talent: Developing a competitive and inclusive quantum research and engineering workforce through coordinated education, training and mobility initiatives, across key quantum-related disciplines and technical fields.

(d) International cooperation: Developing international collaboration in quantum technologies to solve global scientific and societal challenges, in line with the external policy objectives and international commitments of the Union.

(16a) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. In order to implement the activities referred to in paragraph 1, the Joint Undertaking shall be entrusted with the implementation of cumulative, complementary or combined funding between Union programmes in accordance with the relevant Commission work programme. The Joint Undertaking may also be entrusted with the implementation of additional tasks in the event of additional Union funding being allocated pursuant Article 5(3).’;

(17) Article 5 is amended as follows:

(18) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

The Union financial contribution to the Joint Undertaking including EEA appropriations shall be up to EUR 3 972 300 000 including EUR 92 000 000 for administrative costs, on the condition that that amount is at least matched by the contribution of Participating States, distributed indicatively as follows:

(a) up to EUR 1 660 000 000 from Horizon Europe, of which EUR 160 000 000 shall be used exclusively for actions referred to in Article 5(6) that contribute to the activities under the quantum technologies pillar as introduced in Article 4(1), point (j)

(b) up to EUR 2 012 300 000 from the Digital Europe Programme

(c) up to EUR 300 000 000 from the Connecting Europe Facility.

(19) A new subparagraph is added in Paragraph 1:

Additional funds from Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme and the Connecting Europe Facility may complement the Union contribution referred to in the first sub-paragraph, on the condition that the additional amounts are at least matched by the contribution of one or more members of the Joint Undertaking other than the Union. Such additional Union contribution shall be dedicated explicity to one or more of the pillars referred to in Article 4 ▌. These additional funds shall not be accounted for in the calculation of the Union maximum financial contribution.

(20) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

Additional funds from any Union programme other than and complementing the ones referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be allocated to the Joint Undertaking to support its pillars of activities referred to in Article 4, except those referred to in Article 4(1)(a). These additional funds shall not be accounted for in the calculation of the Union maximum financial contribution.

(21) A new paragraph 4a is added:

For the contributions entrusted to the Joint Undertaking in accordance with paragraph 3 and 4 of this Article, the requirements of Article 158 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 are applicable. When these additional Union contributions are related to the pillar referred to in Article 4(1)(i), one or more of the members other than the Union shall make additional contributions commensurate to the amount of the Union contributions.

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(23) Paragraph 7 is deleted.

(24) Paragraph 8 is deleted.

(25) The following Article 12b is added:

‘Article 12b’

Artificial Intelligence Giga Factory

1. An AI Gigafactory shall be located in a Member State. It shall be financially supported by a partnership between the Union and one or more Participating States, represented through the Joint Undertaking, and an AI Gigafactory Consortium, which may include one or more technology infrastructure suppliers, legally represented by an AI Gigafactory Coordinator.

1a. The Joint Undertaking shall ensure that all AI Gigafactories comply with Union-wide interoperability, cybersecurity and data-protection standards, creating a secure and trusted computing ecosystem.

2. Participation in an AI Gigafactory Consortium of legal entities from non-Participating States shall not be permitted. However, in duly justified cases, the Commission may assess, on a case-by-case basis, that such participation is not considered contrary to the Union's strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/695, Regulation (EU) 2021/694 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1153, the call for expression of interest for selecting an AI Gigafactory Consortium shall limit participation in the said Consortium to legal entities established only in Participating States or to legal entities established in specified associated countries of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme, the Digital Europe Programme and any subsequent relevant Union funding programme, or other third countries in addition to Participating States. The restrictions and exclusions referred to in this paragraph shall in principle not apply to legal entities established in third countries, which have signed an AI Gigafactory Cooperation Agreement or a similar agreement with the Union. The call for expression of interest for selecting an AI Gigafactory may specify that legal entities in other third countries may be eligible provided they comply with the requirements to be fulfilled by those legal entities to guarantee the protection of the security interests of the Union and the Member States and to ensure the protection of classified documents information. Those requirements shall be set out in the work programme.

3. The AI Gigafactory Consortium shall benefit from explicit provision of an appropriate supporting document proving the commitment of the Member State where the AI Gigafactory hosting entity is established, or of the competent authorities of the Participating States of the AI Gigafactory Consortium.

4. The Union financial contribution referred to in Article 5 stemming from the Digital Europe Programme or CEF Digital shall cover up to 17% to the capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments of the overall compute infrastructure of the AI Gigafactory. The part of the Union financial contribution referred to in Article 5 stemming from Horizon Europe and contributing to the AI Gigafactory pillar shall cover a pre-agreed guaranteed purchase of access time to the AI Gigafactory, to be used exclusively by actions referred to in Article 5(6), equivalent to a leased capacity of the CAPEX. One or more Participating States should at least match the Union contribution. The remaining investment as well as the operational expenditure (OPEX) of the AI Gigafactory shall be covered by the AI Gigafactory Consortium.

5. A selected AI Factory may substantially scale up to become an AI Gigafactory. In such case, the Union’s financial support already provided for this AI Factory shall be counted as part of the Union’s contribution towards the CAPEX of the AI Gigafactory computing infrastructure. The Artificial Intelligence Factory hosting agreement referred to in Article 10 shall be modified accordingly, where appropriate. The additional investment into the Artificial Intelligence Factory concerned to become an AI Gigafactory as well as the operational expenditure (OPEX) of the AI Gigafactory shall be covered by the AI Gigafactory Consortium.

6. Participating States that are Member States may, by mutual agreement with the Joint Undertaking, channel their respective voluntary contributions, including those referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article and any other in addition to them, in total or in part, for a specific AI Gigafactory through the Joint Undertaking, which shall then manage and disburse these funds to the designated AI Gigafactory on their behalf.

7. The Joint Undertaking shall own the part of the AI Gigafactory compute infrastructure corresponding to the Union contribution specified in paragraphs 4 and 5. The duration of this ownership or of the leased capacity referred to in paragraph 4 shall be at least five years from the start of operations of the AI Gigafactory and further specified in the AI Gigafactory Hosting Agreement. This duration shall be extended in case of a substantial upgrade of the AI Gigafactory compute infrastructure. Without prejudice to the winding up of the Joint Undertaking, as referred to in Article 23(4) of the Statutes, this ownership shall be transferred in accordance with the AI Gigafactory Hosting Agreement or be extended for an agreed period under conditions specified in the AI Gigafactory Hosting Agreement. In the case of transfer of ownership to the AI Gigafactory consortium, the residual value of the AI Gigafactory compute infrastructure shall be converted into equivalent access rights for the Union. If there is no transfer of ownership to the AI Gigafactory consortium according to the Hosting Agreement, but a decision for decommissioning, the relevant costs shall be borne by the AI Gigafactory Consortium.

8. The access rights of the Union and the Participating States in AI Gigafactory shall be directly proportional to their respective financial contributions to the CAPEX of the computing infrastructure of the AI Gigafactory, or to the pre-agreed guaranteed purchase of access time to the AI Gigafactory.

9. The Governing Board of the Joint Undertaking shall determine:

(a) the conditions of the Union's access time to the AI Gigafactories,

(b) specific rules for access conditions to AI Gigafactories that concern the allocation of access time for projects and activities considered as strategic for the Union.

(ba) mechanisms for monitoring utilisation rates and outcomes in order to ensure their efficient use and capacity while avoiding idle resources. lt shall report regularly on the utilisation and performance of each Gigafactory.

10. When determining the conditions of the Union’s access time pursuant to paragraph 9, the Governing Board shall ensure that access shall: