Malta chosen to host one of Europe’s AI factories

Malta is one of six new locations across Europe selected to host an AI Factory antenna, an EU initiative intended to drive innovation across the continent.

The six new AI Factories form part of an interconnected network of 19 AI hubs with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.

The initiative is piloted by EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, a legal and funding entity that brings together the EU and participating countries. It coordinates efforts and helps pool resources.

To equip Europe with a cutting-edge supercomputing infrastructure, EuroHPC has already procured 11 supercomputers, distributed across Europe. Three of these supercomputers are now ranked among the world’s top 10 most powerful machines: Jupiter in Germany, Europe’s first exascale supercomputer (4th place) along with Lumi in Finland (9th place) and Leonardo in Italy (10th place).

The EU will fund the AI Factory Antennas with an investment of around €55 million, matched by contributions from participating countries.

Malta’s antenna, named Calypso (Computational AI factory Link Yielding Performance, Services, and Outreach), will be led by the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA) and linked to Greece’s Pharos AI Factory.

It will provide Maltese startups, SMEs, researchers, and public bodies with access to EuroHPC AI supercomputing, algorithmic support, training, and datasets in key sectors such as finance, transport, and health.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said through Calypso, Malta will be directly connected to Europe’s most advanced AI and supercomputing capabilities.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri

“It creates new opportunities for our innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs to test, train, and deploy AI solutions with global potential,” Schembri said.

Kenneth brincat, CEO of the MDIA, said that with European funds, Malta will be creating the Calypso AI Factory Antenna with a value of €10 million.

“This project will strengthen our local ecosystem and provide direct access to advanced artificial intelligence resources, thereby reinforcing Malta’s position as a centre of innovation.”

By mid-2026, all selected AI Factory Antennas and the linked AI Factories will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set out the terms of their collaboration.

The initiative will allow European scientists and users from the public sector and industry to benefit from EuroHPC supercomputers no matter where in Europe they are located.
The EuroHPC is also deploying a European quantum computing infrastructure, integrating diverse European quantum computing technologies with existing supercomputers. EuroHPC already inaugurated PIAST-Q in Poznań, Poland and VLQ in Ostrava, Czechia,  marking a milestone in Europe’s leap into the quantum era.

The EuroHPC also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain, from processors and software to applications to be run on these machines and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise.