One of the new six EU AI factories will be build in Bulgaria

In the near future, Bulgaria will be home to one of the six new European Union artificial intelligence factories. Our country has won a €90 million project, thanks to a cooperation between Sofia Tech Park and the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT). Along with this, the government has committed to provide 50% national funding starting in 2026. The other five member states that have also become part of the EU’s AI leadership strategy are Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. This list has been submitted by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and makes these six countries part of the EU network of AI centres that already exist in seven different locations within the Union (Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain).

These factories aim to benefit startups, small and medium-sized enterprises with the development of scalable, reliable and ethical AI models. Achieving this will require the best supercomputers, data and talent, which, according to the EU, are the essential tools for AI innovation. The project also contributes to the National Strategy for AI Development in Bulgaria and the Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation.

The Ministry of Innovation and Growth clarified, “The factories in France and Germany are planned to work together with Europe’s first exascale supercomputers, which are currently being created in both countries. Organisations in Bulgaria, Austria, Poland and Slovenia will build infrastructures with specialised systems optimised to work with artificial intelligence, further expanding Europe’s high-tech infrastructure.”

Work on the Bulgarian BRAIN++ factory facility will start in 2026 in Sofia Tech Park and should be completed within three years. It will consist of two components that will function mutually: a next-generation Discoverer++ supercomputer and a center that will offer services to government, educational and private organizations. As commented by the Ministry, Discoverer++ will feature AI-enabled generative workload systems, dedicated partitions for robotics, satellite space surveillance, and FMCG applications, advanced and optimized storage modules with over 7.5 PB capacity, and high-speed interconnects enabling processing and training of massive AI models.

BRAIN++ will help INSAIT position Bulgaria as a regional leader in AI innovation. It is also planned to provide training programs to develop qualified experts among the Bulgarian community in this field. BRAIN++, collaborating with the other 12 factories, will also be very important for the development of a robust ecosystem for AI research, development and applications in Europe.