Unlocking Supercomputing for Startups and SMEs: Opportunities for the Future

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  Wednesday, 5 March 2025
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  15:30h - 16:00h
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    Mariona Sanz
    Head of Innovation and Business Development, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)

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    Oriol Pineda
    Coordinator of Infrastructure Access Policy, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)

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    Àlex Martí
    Co-Founder & CEO at Mitiga Solutions

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  The Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) will receive nearly €200 million to host the creation of one of the first seven ‘AI Factories’, the European Commission and the EuroHPC JU announced today. This initiative will turn the BSC into an epicentre of AI (Artificial Intelligence) development, enabling both the public and private sector to drive high-impact science and technology R&D projects.

  To this end, it will also rely on the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES), an alliance of 14 organisations and their supercomputers distributed throughout Spain to offer High Performance Computing services. The BSC’s proposal includes an expansion of its supercomputing capacity with an upgrade of MareNostrum 5, which will be equipped with advanced artificial intelligence accelerator technology for training and development of large-scale generative models.

  The project will begin deployment in 2025 with the aim of being fully operational by the end of 2025.

  It is an ambitious proposal to become one of Europe’s first AI Factories, a new type of infrastructure designed by the European Commission to drive innovation and development in AI. This initiative is part of the European Union’s recent package of measures to position Europe as a global reference in AI, favouring alignment with the EU’s ethical and regulatory values.

  The AI Factory will integrate advanced technological resources, data and specialised talent. This ecosystem will provide companies, startups, SMEs and institutions with access to AI-optimised supercomputing infrastructure and a network of complementary services.

  The aim is to democratise access to AI resources for resource-constrained sectors and thus foster innovation in areas such as biomedicine, climate science and chip design, following the European vision of building generative AI aligned with EU values.

  The AI Factory project foresees a total investment of close to 198 million euros. Of this amount, the Spanish Government will contribute almost 62 million euros through the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the Government of Catalonia will allocate 14 million euros. In addition, the project will also have international contributions: the Government of Portugal will invest 15.6 million euros, the Government of Turkey 6.5 million euros and the Government of Romania 1 million euros. This total sum will be doubled by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe funding programme, with a contribution of 98 million euros, consolidating European backing for this pioneering initiative.

  The Barcelona AI Factory is aligned with the European Commission’s report on Generative AI and the recent ‘Draghi Report’ on AI and its potential in multiple sectors. These guidelines reflect the importance of having infrastructures that enable the use of AI models in science, medicine, industry, and sustainability, among others.

  With a first investment of 580 million euros by the European Commission for the High Performance Supercomputer Network (EuroHPC JU), member countries are called upon to contribute to these strategic projects. In the case of Barcelona, the AI Factory will not only enhance MareNostrum 5, but will open its doors to European talent, promoting an experimental supercomputing infrastructure designed for AI.

  This AI Factory is a key step in strengthening European digital autonomy and Spain’s leadership in the ethical development of artificial intelligence.