A new, large-scale initiative called “AI Factory Austria” (AI:AT) will have a lasting positive impact on the Austrian artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. As officially announced on March 12, 2025, funding has been secured through the EU’s European High Performance Computing (EuroHPC) Joint Undertaking program. AI:AT is thus making a significant contribution to the European initiatives aimed at increasing Europe’s competitiveness and innovative capacity in the field of AI.

The project consortium, consisting of Advanced Computing Austria (ACA), the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and a strong network of academic and industrial partners, will create a state-of-the-art computing infrastructure for the AI Factory and basic structures for a comprehensive AI hub that extends beyond the Factory. This integrated approach promotes innovation, strengthens AI expertise and supports both Austrian and European competitiveness in the global technology landscape.

“With the joint construction of an AI-optimized supercomputer and an AI Factory Hub, we are creating the basis for powerful, trustworthy AI applications throughout Austria. As a network node, the AI Factory Austria will ensure that all relevant players – from research to industry – work together efficiently and thus sustainably strengthen Austria as a location for innovation,” says AIT Scientific Director Andreas Kugi.

Expansion of the existing infrastructure
Building on the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC), a new AI-optimized supercomputer will be acquired that will be available to researchers, start-ups, companies and public administration. This allows complex AI models to be trained efficiently and transferred to various fields of application.

“AI:AT enables us to greatly expand the support services from existing projects such as EuroCC and make them available to an even larger customer base,” adds ACA project manager Markus Stöhr. “On the one hand, this is done by providing software solutions for AI use cases and by directly supporting customer projects. The significant increase in computing capacity also makes it possible to train larger AI models, which was not possible on our previous infrastructure.”

“The establishment of the AI Factory is an important milestone on the way to a high-performance AI ecosystem in Austria as a center of innovation. With this project, we are putting a major visible building block on the AI map of the Republic. As the core of a future AI hub, it should become a magnet and meeting place for the best minds and attract the most innovative companies with high-end supercomputers and comprehensive services. With this focus on commercial use and exploitation, we want to drive forward digitalization, improve the competitiveness of companies and make the key technology of AI available to as many start-ups as possible as a door opener for markets and new solutions,” says Peter Hanke, the Federal Minister responsible for Innovation.

AI Factory Hub and services
In addition to the hardware upgrade, a physical AI Factory Hub will also be set up as a one-stop store, coworking space and community center, offering services in the following areas with around 60 planned employees:

• Community support and ecosystem development and expansion: central meeting point for project teams, consultants and partners.
• Operational support: Low-threshold access to the AI infrastructure from initial pilot projects through to productive workloads.
• Innovation support: Accelerated product development through proof-of-concept support and consulting.
• Training and capacity building: Comprehensive training courses ranging from beginner courses to specialized master classes.

Use cases and impact
AI:AT promotes cross-sector projects in areas such as biotechnology, sustainability, energy and production efficiency. A central “one-stop store” enables SMEs and start-ups in particular to benefit from supercomputing resources and expert support. At the same time, clear guidelines and secure data environments ensure trustworthy and ethical AI development.

Looking to the future
With funding from the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, AI:AT is building a comprehensive AI ecosystem that advances research, companies and public institutions alike. The combination of state-of-the-art computing infrastructure and targeted support services will further strengthen Austria’s international position as a center of technology and innovation.

AI:AT creates synergies with other lighthouse projects in the field of basic research on artificial intelligence in a unique way. Worth mentioning here are the planned AI Center of the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology, the Institute for AI in Biomedicine (“AITHYRA”) founded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Boehringer Ingelheim, as well as the “Bilateral AI” cluster of excellence funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

AI:AT Consortium
The AI Factory Austria (AI:AT) consortium is led by Advanced Computing Austria GmbH (ACA) and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. Other partners are the TU Vienna, University of Vienna, BOKU University, University of Innsbruck, TU Graz, JKU Linz, the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the high-tech incubator INiTS and the EODC Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH.

Links

• Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT): https://www.ait.ac.at/ai-taskforce
• EuroCC Austria (representing ACA): https://eurocc-austria.at/news/ai-factory-austria
• EuroHPC press release (English): https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/eurohpc-ju-selects-additional-ai-factories-strengthen-europes-ai-leadership-2025-03-12_en