How the European Union is boosting artificial intelligence: strategies and concrete actions

Did you know that less than two out of ten European companies use artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations? This data, corresponding to 2024, reveals the margin for improvement in the adoption of this technology. To reverse this situation and take advantage of the transformative potential of AI, the European Union has designed a comprehensive strategic framework that combines investment in computing infrastructure, access to quality data and specific measures for key sectors such as health, mobility or energy.

In this article we explain the main European strategies in this area, with a special focus on the Apply AI Strategy or the AI Continent Action Plan , adopted this year in October and April respectively. In addition, we will tell you how these initiatives complement other European strategies to create a comprehensive innovation ecosystem.

Context: Action plan and strategic sectors

On the one hand, the AI Continent Action Plan establishes five strategic pillars:

1. Computing infrastructures: scaling computing capacity through AI Factories, AI Gigafactories and the Cloud and AI Act, specifically:
   • AI factories: infrastructures to train and improve artificial intelligence models will be promoted. This strategic axis has a budget of 10,000 million euros and is expected to lead to at least 13 AI factories by 2026.
   • Gigafactorie AI: the infrastructures needed to train and develop complex AI models will also be taken into account, quadrupling the capacity of AI factories. In this case, 20,000 million euros are invested for the development of 5 gigafactories.
   • Cloud and AI Act: Work is being done on a regulatory framework to boost research into highly sustainable infrastructure, encourage investments and triple the capacity of EU data centres over the next five to seven years.
2. Access to quality data: facilitate access to robust and well-organized datasets through the so-called Data Labs in AI Factories.
3. Talent and skills: strengthening AI skills across the population, specifically:
   • Create international collaboration agreements.
   • To offer scholarships in AI for the best students, researchers and professionals in the sector.
   • Promote skills in these technologies through a specific academy.
   • Test a specific degree in generative AI.
   • Support training updating through the European Digital Innovation Hub.
4. Development and adoption of algorithms: promoting the use of artificial intelligence in strategic sectors.
5. Regulatory framework: Facilitate compliance with the AI Regulation in a simple and innovative way and provide free and adaptable tools for companies.

On the other hand, the recently presented, in October 2025, Apply AI Strategy seeks to boost the competitiveness of strategic sectors and strengthen the EU's technological sovereignty, driving AI adoption and innovation across Europe, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises. How? The strategy promotes an "AI first" policy, which encourages organizations to consider artificial intelligence as a potential solution whenever they make strategic or policy decisions, carefully evaluating both the benefits and risks of the technology. In addition, it encourages a European procurement approach, i.e. organisations, particularly public administrations, prioritise solutions developed in Europe. Moreover, special importance is given to open source AI solutions, because they offer greater transparency and adaptability, less dependence on external providers and are aligned with the European values of openness and shared innovation.

The Apply AI Strategy is structured in three main sections:

Flagship sectoral initiatives

The strategy identifies 11 priority areas where AI can have the greatest impact and where Europe has competitive strengths:

• Healthcare and pharmaceuticals: AI-powered advanced European screening centres will be established to accelerate the introduction of innovative prevention and diagnostic tools, with a particular focus on cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
• Robotics: Adoption will be driven for the adoption of European robotics connecting developers and user industries, driving AI-powered robotics solutions.
• Manufacturing, engineering and construction: the development of cutting-edge AI models adapted to industry will be supported, facilitating the creation of digital twins and optimisation of production processes.
• Defence, security and space: the development of AI-enabled European situational awareness and control capabilities will be accelerated, as well as highly secure computing infrastructure for defence and space AI models.
• Mobility, transport and automotive: the "Autonomous Drive Ambition Cities" initiative will be launched to accelerate the deployment of autonomous vehicles in European cities.
• Electronic communications: a European AI platform for telecommunications will be created that will allow operators, suppliers and user industries to collaborate on the development of open source technological elements.
• Energy: the development of AI models will be supported to improve the forecasting, optimization and balance of the energy system.
• Climate and environment: An open-source AI model of the Earth system and related applications will be deployed to enable better weather forecasting, Earth monitoring, and what-if scenarios.
• Agri-food: the creation of an agri-food AI platform will be promoted to facilitate the adoption of agricultural tools enabled by this technology.
• Cultural and creative sectors, and media: the development of micro-studios specialising in AI-enhanced virtual production and pan-European platforms using multilingual AI technologies will be incentivised.
• Public sector: A dedicated AI toolkit for public administrations will be built with a shared repository of good practices, open source and reusable, and the adoption of scalable generative AI solutions will be accelerated.

Cross-cutting support measures

For the adoption of artificial intelligence to be effective, the strategy addresses challenges common to all sectors, specifically:

• Opportunities for European SMEs: The more than 250 European Digital Innovation Hubs have been transformed into AI Centres of Expertise. These centres act as privileged access points to the European AI innovation ecosystem, connecting companies with AI Factories, data labs and testing facilities.
• AI-ready workforce: Access to practical AI literacy training, tailored to sectors and professional profiles, will be provided through the AI Skills Academy.
• Supporting the development of advanced AI: The Frontier AI Initiative seeks to accelerate progress on cutting-edge AI capabilities in Europe. Through this project, competitions will be created to develop advanced open-source artificial intelligence models, which will be available to public administrations, the scientific community and the European business sector.
• Trust in the European market: Disclosure will be strengthened to ensure compliance with the European Union's AI Regulation, providing guidance on the classification of high-risk systems and on the interaction of the Regulation with other sectoral legislation.

New governance system

In this context, it is particularly important to ensure proper coordination of the strategy. Therefore, the following is proposed:

• Apply AI Alliance: The existing AI Alliance becomes the premier coordination forum that brings together AI vendors, industry leaders, academia, and the public sector. Sector-specific groups will allow the implementation of the strategy to be discussed and monitored.
• AI Observatory: An AI Observatory will be established to provide robust indicators assessing its impact on currently listed and future sectors, monitor developments and trends.

Complementary strategies: science and data as the main axes

The Apply AI Strategy does not act in isolation, but is complemented by two other fundamental strategies: the AI in Science Strategy and the Data Union Strategy.

AI in Science Strategy

Presented together with the Apply AI Strategy, this strategy supports and incentivises the development and use of artificial intelligence by the European scientific community. Its central element is RAISE (Resource for AI Science in Europe), which was presented in November at the AI in Science Summit and will bring together strategic resources: funding, computing capacity, data and talent. RAISE will operate on two pillars: Science for AI (basic research to advance fundamental capabilities) and AI in Science (use of artificial intelligence for progress in different scientific disciplines).

Data Union Strategy

This strategy will focus on ensuring the availability of high-quality, large-scale datasets, essential for training AI models. A key element will be the Data Labs associated with the AI Factories, which will bring together and federate data from different sectors, linking with the  corresponding European Common Data Spaces, making them available to developers under the appropriate conditions.

In short, through significant investments in infrastructure, access to quality data, talent development and a regulatory framework that promotes responsible innovation, the European Union is creating the necessary conditions for companies, public administrations and citizens to take advantage of the full transformative potential of artificial intelligence. The success of these strategies will depend on collaboration between European institutions, national governments, businesses, researchers and developers.