AI Factory Austria AI:AT Opens AI:AT Coworking Hub
Around 300 stakeholders, the AI:AT consortium and European AI Factories discussed sovereign AI, EuroHPC access and implementation
Around 300 stakeholders from business, research and public administration – including the AI Factory Austria AI:AT consortium and representatives of several European AI Factories – gathered on 24 February 2026 for the opening of the AI:AT Coworking Hub at SOLARIS (Karl-Farkas-Gasse 22, 1030 Vienna) and the subsequent evening event at Marx Palast. The occasion saw the network of the European AI Factories strongly represented in one location in Vienna. The focus was on building sovereign AI capabilities in Austria, practical access to European high-performance computing resources (EuroHPC), and the transfer of advanced AI applications into implementation.
„The AI Factory is a milestone in strengthening Austria’s digital sovereignty and a central element in the AI ecosystem of Austria as a location for innovation. It creates an important framework for mastering AI technologies and implementing demanding AI projects, and ensures that our companies – including many SMEs and startups – have access to AI hardware and expertise, both of which are crucial for Austria’s economy and innovation landscape. With the Coworking Hub, we provide a training space offering formats ranging from entry-level and executive programmes to technical training.“
Innovation Minister Peter Hanke (BMIMI)
Focus on European networking and practical examples
The evening event connected political context, European perspectives and practical examples from Austria’s AI ecosystem. At the same time, the programme highlighted AI:AT’s role as an active networker within the European landscape, bringing together representatives of several AI Factories in Vienna to share experiences from their national implementation models.
The event was opened by AI:AT Co-Leads Karl Kugler and Markus Stöhr, followed by an opening interview with Innovation Minister Peter Hanke. AI:AT positions itself as a market-neutral, independent access point for ambitious AI initiatives, combining infrastructure access, hands-on expertise, capacity building and ecosystem networking to make AI applications effective in practice.
An international perspective was provided in the keynote “How a Country Can Advance the Adoption of AI” by Andreas Liebl (CEO, appliedAI Initiative). In the first panel “Infrastructure, Transfer, and Sovereignty for Europe’s AI Competitiveness”, representatives from industry, research, politics and the European Commission discussed, among others, Kilian Gross (Director for Enabling and Emerging Technologies, DG CNECT, Directorate C of the European Commission), Christoph Knogler (CEO KEBA Group AG and Head of the AI Taskforce of the Federation of Austrian Industries), Andreas Kugi (Scientific Director of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Boards), Marta Sabou (Bilateral AI, Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Henriette Spyra (BMIMI, Head of Section III “Innovation and Technology”).
European collaboration was once again highlighted in the fireside chat “AI Factories in the Network”. Matteo Angelinelli (IT4LIA/CINECA), Lucia Demovičová (Antenna Slovakia), Sašo Džeroski (Slovenian AI Factory, SLAIF) and Dennis Hoppe (HammerHAI) exchanged practical experiences from the European AI Factories. European collaboration was thus not only discussed but actively demonstrated during the event. The programme was further complemented by practical examples from the hub environment, including anyconcept (Leander Zaiser), NEOALP (Christian Tauber) and Sinntelligence (Matthias F. Brandstetter, Tomislav Autischer).
First results and measurable impact of the AI Factory Austria AI:AT
Since launching the training and enablement programme in July 2025, AI:AT has achieved its first measurable results. These include more than 20 training events delivered to over 900 participants, support for more than 40 initiatives and organisations – including startups and public administration institutions – more than 10 partnerships launched, and 30 events to strengthen the community. These figures underline AI:AT’s ambition to serve as a market-neutral, independent access point providing guidance, infrastructure access, capacity building and networking for demanding AI initiatives in Austria.
AI:AT already supports organizations with access to European high-performance computers in the EuroHPC ecosystem as well as with the classification and monitoring of computationally intensive AI projects in interaction with the ecosystem.
Voices from AI Factory Austria and the consortium
“The AI Factory Austria supports customers as an independent, trustworthy partner in using AI effectively. The AI:AT Coworking Hub at SOLARIS is a place where infrastructure, expertise and collaboration come together. Our mission is to translate scientific excellence into application, value creation and societal benefit. If we want Austria to shape AI rather than merely observe it, we need strong ecosystems and places like this where they converge.”
Karl Kugler, Co-Lead of AI Factory Austria
„Through the EuroHPC systems, high-performance computing is now becoming more widely accessible – including for SMEs, startups, industry and public administration. At AI Factory Austria, our goal is to enable this access with the lowest possible barriers and to guide organisations in its practical use. At the same time, we are laying the foundations to support the entire AI lifecycle in Austria on modern infrastructure, with high standards of data sovereignty and security.“
Markus Stöhr, Co-Lead of AI Factory Austria
„With AI Factory Austria, we are creating a structured bridge between scientific excellence and effective application. The key is not only to research AI, but to make it scalable under real-world conditions – with sovereign infrastructure, technical expertise and a strong network spanning research, industry and public administration. This is precisely where AI:AT’s strategic strength lies for Austria and for the European context.“
Andreas Kugi, Scientific Director of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Board
„For TU Wien, AI:AT is an important lever to more closely integrate top-level research, technological development and industrial implementation. AI Factory Austria provides a framework in which sophisticated AI applications are not developed in isolation, but translated into practice together with the right partners and on high-performance infrastructure. This sustainably strengthens Austria as a location for innovation.“
Wolfgang Kastner, Vice Rector of TU Wien and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Board
„AI Factory Austria demonstrates how crucial the close integration of research, qualification and application is for the future of AI. From the perspective of the University of Vienna, it is particularly important that AI:AT combines scientific expertise with concrete implementation formats, thereby creating a reliable framework for responsible and effective AI deployment. This generates added value equally for science, business and public institutions.“
Nikolaus Hautsch, Vice Rector of the University of Vienna and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Board
Coworking and community as a national hub
The AI:AT Coworking Hub at SOLARIS is designed as a space for work and community. As a physical hub, it provides space for project teams and partners to come together, host meetups and workshops, and facilitate collaborations between startups, industry, research and public administration. Currently, 67 members work there, coming from 28 companies across five sectors; overall 94 coworking workstations are available. At the same time, AI Factory Austria operates nationwide. The consortium comprises key research and innovation stakeholders in Austria, and AI:AT collaborates with relevant initiatives and networks across the country to anchor demand, capacity building and implementation capabilities for AI on a broad basis.
About AI Factory Austria AI:AT
AI Factory Austria AI:AT is Austria’s national AI Factory within the framework of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. It is jointly led by Advanced Computing Austria (ACA) and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, and implemented by a nationwide Austrian consortium.
The consortium partners are: TU Wien, University of Vienna, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), University of Innsbruck, TU Graz, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), INiTS – Vienna’s High-Tech Incubator – and EODC – Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH. AI:AT combines AI-optimised high-performance infrastructure with a physical hub and supports organisations from business, public administration and applied research as a market-neutral, independent access point along the AI journey – from the first use case to practical implementation.
Funding Acknowledgement
Die AI Factory Austria AI:AT wird durch das European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) im Rahmen des Fördervertrags Nr. 101253078 kofinanziert. Das Joint Undertaking wird unterstützt durch das Horizon-Europe-Programm der Europäischen Union sowie Österreich (BMIMI/FFG).
Contact:
Daniel Pepl, MAS MBA
Lead Marketing & Communications
AI Factory Austria AI:AT
Mobile: +43 664 6207805 I daniel.pepl@ai-at.eu I www.ai-at.eu
